Before The Storm
by MackDreamer
Summary: What if Koba didn't fire that gun? What if it was evil humans who started the war? When Caesar and a bunch of other apes and humans are kidnapped, Koba, Blue Eyes, Maurice, Dreyfus, Malcolm and all the other humans and apes must team up to save them. But will this new danger destroy them? Or will it finally unit them? (Includes OC's and may have OC x Canon later!) Please R&R!
1. Gunfire

**A's/N: Before you start reading, I want to apologize for the awkward beginning! To make it easier on your minds, imagine the entire Dawn of The Planet of the Apes movie playing normally, and then pause it right when Koba points the gun at Caesar. Yeah, that's how it basically starts. Again, sorry if that confuses anyone. As I said in the description, there are OC's in this story and a possible OC x Canon later. Don't like? Don't read.**

 **Enjoy the first chapter!**

* * *

Their eyes met. Koba raised the gun and aimed it at his target. Caesar's eyes widened in disbelief. Suddenly, a loud bang ripped through the air, and he flinched. The noise itself seemed to freeze the entire ape colony: all sounds felt distant and time moving slowly, except for the echo.

A gun had been fired...But it wasn't Koba who shot that bullet. The bonobo looked down at his gun. Where did that come from?

He got his answer when more gunshots rang out. They came in all directions as if the forest exploded with them. The apes began to panic, all of them running for cover or to find their mates and children. The fire Grey and Stone set on the ape's home added to the chaos. Some apes got burned, but most got shot. It was impossible to tell the wounded from the dead.

Malcolm and his group frantically grabbed any and all apes they could and helped them get to a safer place.

Suddenly, something heavy landed on top of Koba. Seconds later, he hit the ground. He got up, dizzy from the fall, and realized it was Caesar. Again, their eyes met. Only now, both were alarmed.

Caesar now knew what Koba was capable of. How deep his hatred was. But he also knew he didn't do this.

Koba wanted Caesar dead, and he wanted there to be a war. But now, faced with his own wish coming true, he didn't know what to do anymore.

Before either one could say anything, Caesar gave a roar of pain. Koba jumped back. A large hook had suddenly inserted itself into the fleshy part of Caesar's shoulder, digging deeply into his flesh. As quickly as it appeared, it dragged the Ape King into the bushes with a powerful yank. Caesar struggled, but couldn't escape the sharp hooks painful grip.

He was gone in seconds. Devoured by the bushes and the darkness. The only clue that he was alive was his yells.

A bullet flew dangerously close to Koba's ear, and instinct took over. He ran without thinking, without even considering going back to try and help Caesar. His mind was too occupied with survival to think of anything else.

"Koba!"

Koba followed Stone's call to a clearing in the forest where Maurice, Malcolm, and the other humans had gathered with the ape colony. Most were wounded and were bloody. He looked around at them, recognizing them.

Rocket, Maurice, Blue Eyes, Cornelia, little Cornelius, Grey, Stone, Tinker, Luca…Where was she? Where was his twin sister?

Then he heard it. Her scream. He felt cold and empty as he realized where she was. His body acted without him thinking as he turned in her direction. In that moment, nothing else mattered; all that mattered to Koba was getting to his sister.

"Dolly!" He felt like his throat was closing, it was as if he was in one of his nightmares.

"Koba, wait!" Blue Eyes chased after the bonobo. Yet even as he ran, the teenager knew he couldn't stop Koba from going after his sister.

Neither of them noticed that Malcolm was coming to the same realization as he checked his group. They all made it, except...

He looked at Ellie, hoping it wasn't what he feared. His mind pleading that his son was safe. Maybe wounded and hiding, but safe. "Where's Alexander?"

Suddenly, the sky came alive with military helicopters. There were only two of them, and they seemed old and unsteady. As if they hadn't flown in a while. But the noise and the fierce wind they made seemed to make them powerful. Dangling from both helicopters was a cage. The first was filled to the brim with humans and in the other….The apes could clearly see Caesar, and Dolly, Ash, Alexander, and a few other apes trapped inside.

Everyone froze, stunned and horrified by the sight. The helicopters captives were all screaming, most of the apes were looking down at their colony.

Koba saw Dolly up there. Then he saw Caesar. Even though they were so high up, Koba could feel his leader's glare and his twin's fear.

There was nothing he could do for either of them. In fact, no one could do anything.

The helicopters began to fly west, towards the ocean. Malcolm considered chasing after them. If they got into the trucks and sped after the helicopters, maybe they could follow them. But to his dismay, the flying machines were going so fast that they were miles away from them in a matter of seconds.

And then they were gone. Taking all their hostages with them.

The ape colony was a mess. Hotting and screaming at the sky, hoping to get a reply from their kidnapped friends and families. Maurice and Luca desperately tried to calm everyone down, but most apes didn't even look at them.

Blue Eyes felt arms grab him and hold him in a tight embrace. He realized it was his mother, who was shaking all over. Cornelius only looked around, possibly looking for their father.

Koba was the only one who stood very still. He hardly dared himself to breath. His gaze stayed locked on the now empty night sky. Dolly was gone. His sister...Gone...Taken away before he even had a chance to save her...The emptiness he felt stayed where it was as if he really was hollow with nothing in him.

"What the hell was that?" Foster asked. His wide eyes turning to the human group.

Ellie stared at the sky for a second longer, then shook her head. "I don't know."

"Do you guys think it was Dreyfus?" Kempt was eyeing the forest, wondering if there were any more dangers the trees and bushes kept hidden.

"Dreyfus couldn't have sent them." Ellie looked at the other humans, her hair falling in her face. "He wouldn't risk a human's life even if it meant getting rid of the apes."

"Then who was-"

"We need to get back to the city." Malcolm's voice was shaky as he spoke. The three other humans fell silent as he turned around to look at them. "Whoever that was, they've taken humans and apes, and we only know which apes they took and that they've taken Alex. We have to go back and find out who else was taken."

Malcolm was trying not to break, but the fear for his son was too strong. It took all his strength to stay rational.

Ellie glanced at the ape colony. Some were beginning to calm down, but most were still saddened and scared by the sudden ambush. "We can't leave them here." She said.

"We won't." Malcolm breathed slowly, trying to stay calm. "We're bringing them with us."

"You want to bring the apes into the city? Are you nuts?" Kempt couldn't contain his shock.

"They'll be safer there than they are here." Though Malcolm wondered just how safe the city actually was. If the human colony was ambushed like the apes just were, then it probably wasn't any different than the forest. But it seemed like a better idea to have them all there where he knew they won't be alone.

The other humans stayed silent for a moment. Then agreed with him. Ellie walked over to Maurice and touched his shoulder to get his attention. "Maurice, we're going back to the city and we want you and the apes to come with us. Will you?" She asked.

Maurice hesitated, some part of him still remembered the abuse he suffered from humans. But he knew Caesar would have agreed with this if he were here. He turned to the apes and hooted loudly, making the apes look at him.

 _"_ _We must follow the humans to the city. Will help get Caesar and the others back. Must help humans too."_

There were some objections. Surprisingly, most of the apes still didn't trust the humans. Even if some of their own were taken away by the same ones who took Caesar.

 _"_ _If we don't go with humans, we may never see Caesar and the others again."_

The apes went silent. Maurice's words weighing themselves in their minds. They knew he was right and despite their distrust of the humans, they found the possibility of losing Caesar forever to be more frightening than being with humans. They reluctantly agreed.

"We follow you." Maurice said to the humans.

"Koba." It was Grey's voice. Up until now, Koba had ignored everything else, but the sky. _"We have to go with the humans."_

Koba's face darkened. His hatred for humans now burning in his gut. _"Humans took Dolly away. I'm not going anywhere with them!"_

 _"_ _We'll get Dolly back. But we need to be with the humans right now, it's not safe out here."_

Koba glared at the chimpanzee. Now he wished the humans who ambushed them would come back so he could steal their guns and kill them all. His thirst for revenge was back, but this time it wasn't for all the suffering he and his sister endured. Now it was for Dolly's kidnapping. He wanted all the humans that were in those flying machines to pay for taking away the only relative he had.

 _"_ _Please, Koba."_ Koba didn't realize Stone was there until nudged him. _"We need to go."_

The bonobo found himself staring at the two chimps. How did the night turn from plotting Caesar's death and starting a war with the humans, to humans inviting the apes to the human city after an ambush done by other humans? It was as if someone else had the same idea he had. Only they started it, before Koba could pull that trigger.

 _"_ _Fine."_ He and the two chimps joined the apes as they followed Malcolm and the human group to the city. His mind beginning to think.

He Listed what he wanted in his mind.

Firstly, and most importantly, he wanted Dolly back. Not having his sister around made him feel lonely and unsafe. Even more so than he has in the last couple of days. Secondly, he wanted Caesar dead. Though he was sure the humans who captured him may kill him anyways, if Caesar came back alive, he'll get in the way. And finally, he wanted to kill the humans. No longer just the ones that ambushed them, but all humans. He wanted the entire race dead.

Koba knew what he wanted…Now he just needed a plan. _Maybe going into the city wouldn't be so bad after all._

* * *

 **A's/N:** **Yes, I gave Koba a twin sister. For this story, I'm going to do something different and NOT explain/properly introduce my OC's right away. Instead, I'll let her character and her past be explained in the story. Why? because I have been told that I tend to explain my OC's and not let them develop on their own. (Come to think of it, I wonder if that's why people attack OC's and label them as 'Mary-Sue's/Gary-Sue's'. Because the OC's creator fails to let the OC develop. Although, OC/Mary-Sue haters do tend to rob the creator of that opportunity as well.)**

 **As of right now, all you readers know is: Dolly is Koba's twin sister and she suffered at the hands of humans like he did. I'm going to let you guys figure out the rest as the story goes.**

 **OC's and story are (c) Me**

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


	2. The Alliance

**A's/N: I forgot to mention in the first chapter that there will be some violence and possible gore in a few chapters. It's not present in this chapter, but I thought I'd let you all know for future reference.**

 **Anyways, wow! This story seems to be doing better than most of my other stories! In the four days, it's been up, it already has two reviews, one follower, one favorite, and lots of views! Thanks, guys! Glad you like it so far!**

* * *

The human city looked different than it did the last time the ape colony visited it. The dark shadows made everything seem bent and twisted at odd angles, making it unnaturally spooky. Some of the buildings had fallen, the floor was covered in both drops and puddles of blood, and it was completely empty. Like a ghost town.

The helicopters were here too. Whoever those people were, they didn't spare this place.

Malcolm feared for the worst. Until...

"Malcolm!" Dreyfus's voice was like a shout in the silent city. He appeared from one of the buildings. His clothes were blood-stained, although he didn't seem wounded.

He started running toward Malcolm but immediately stopped when he saw the ape colony. "What are they doing here?!" He demanded.

The younger apes hid behind their parents, while the adults glared at the human. Seems like the distrust was still there. Even the threat of a new enemy wasn't enough to shake it.

"There was an ambush in the forest, we had to bring them with us!" Malcolm's calmness was beginning to dwindle. In a more stable voice, he said. "Dreyfus, the very people that came here and took some of us away, took their leader and a few other apes away too-"

"I don't give a damn about that!" The hysteria in his voice was unmistakable. "They're animals! They'll kill the rest of us faster than those helicopter people can!"

Helicopter people. The name sounded vague and nondescript. Something a child may come up with. But in truth, there was no other name for the bad people who took their friends and loved ones away. Not knowing who they were was like salt on open wounds.

The hatred in Dreyfus's voice was clear. The ape colony felt it in his glare. Koba was the only one brave enough to look him in the eyes. He wondered if this human was capable of causing a war between the apes and the humans before Koba himself could get his hands on another gun. Dreyfus wondered the same about Koba. Only he had no idea just how close the bonobo was to actually starting one.

Even Malcolm could feel the intensity as Dreyfus and Koba locked hateful eyes with each other. He had a feeling there would be a showdown between those two later.

"They aren't the bad guys here! Can we please stop blaming the apes for the simian flu for one second?" Ellie suddenly stepped forward. Frustration evident in her face. "We all have the same enemy here. Some bad people came here and took our friends and loved ones away. The only difference is the fact that some of them were human and the others were apes."

No one wanted to say it out loud, but Ellie was right. Whoever those people were, they clearly had something against the apes and the humans. And despite the human colony in the city not trusting the apes, none of them would try to do what these humans did.

Tonight, they weren't each other's enemies.

Malcolm walked over to Dreyfus until he was at arm's length from him. "Dreyfus."

Dreyfus looked at him, the hysterical look fading. Malcolm knew then that his more reasonable side was coming back.

"We need to team up with the apes. We may have a better chance at finding out who these people are and bringing everyone back if we work together." Malcolm hoped this would convince him.

The mayor looked at the apes. His eyes scanning each one of them, old and young, big and small. He still didn't trust any of them but, knowing Malcolm, he'd make an alliance with them regardless of what Dreyfus felt about it. He looked back at Malcolm.

"Alright. Fine. But! If any of them, and even just one of them, hurts or kills a human, they're all dead!"

Malcolm would have said something if Koba hadn't beaten him to it.

"You will die first!"

Dreyfus stormed over to the bonobo. "Is that a threat, flee-bag?!" Malcolm managed to grab Dreyfus before he got too close. It was not easy.

"If you want it to be!" If it wasn't for Stone holding him back, Koba wouldn't hesitate to fight the human.

Ellie got in between them just in time."Ok, that's enough! No one's killing anyone!" She said.

Foster, who has been silent for the most part, finally spoke. "Maybe we should give the apes somewhere to stay in. Before things get too complicated." Maurice signed. _"Agreed."_

* * *

He didn't know how long he's been asleep but when Caesar woke up, he regretted it. His right shoulder ached and was bleeding from where the hook was. His chest hurt too and when he looked down at it, he realized it was because of the bullet wound.

"Caesar." He turned his head to his left-and jumped. In his blurry vision, he thought he saw Koba and he feared his honorary brother turned enemy would finish him.

But it wasn't Koba. Due to them being twins, Dolly shared a resemblance to her brother: same black fur, same height, same green eyes, same looks..The only real way Caesar could ever tell them apart was by their different scars and by the fact that one of them was male and the other female. But in his sleepy haze, the only clue that it was Dolly, was her green eyes. Not one green and one milky like Koba's.

Relief settled in Caesar's chest. "Dolly." But he wondered if he could trust her. If Koba had tried to kill him, whose to say Dolly wouldn't have that intention too?

Both of them were chained to the wall, a collar-like shackle was wrapped tightly around their necks. Dolly appeared to be wound on her leg, he realized it was a gunshot wound. There were other apes with them. In fact, the darkroom was packed with them! Some Caesar recognized, like Ash and a few others from the ape colony, but most were apes he never even seen before. There had to be about twenty in total.

Dolly tenderly touched Caesar's wounds. Her careful fingers cleaning off the blood stains and trying to pluck out the dirt and grime that had gotten lodged in the open wounds. She wasn't a healer, but she knew how to keep wounds clean. _"You are lucky, you're still alive."_ She signed to him. _"But I think you need a healer to look at you."_

"Did they take my family?" Caesar couldn't bear the thought that his wife and sons could be in here with them.

Dolly shook her head. _"They were on the ground when they took us away. Maybe with Malcolm."_

At that, Caesar allowed himself to relax. He had no way of knowing if his family were truly safe, but any place seemed better than this overcrowded prison. And the fact that they weren't here gave Caesar hope that these humans didn't harm them.

Suddenly, the door opened and two humans walked inside. Caesar and Dolly stayed silent and didn't move. They just watched the two approach an ape that was a few feet away from them. They roughly grabbed the ape, who squealed and struggled against them. But they eventually managed to drag the ape out of the room. Shutting and locking the door behind them as they left.

"What are they doing?" Caesar whispered.

"I don't know," Dolly answered.

An ape from across from them grunted at them. The ape was a gorilla, with enough burn scars on his body to let them know that he had been through something horrible. _"Humans in masks mean doom."_ He signed to them. _"Never come back."_

A shiver ran through Caesar's body. Something about this place suddenly made him wish it was all a dream. That any minute, he'll wake up back in the forest. Humans away, and none of his apes pointing guns at each other. "What about the humans they capture?" He asked.

The gorilla answered with a shake of the head. _"Nothing good."_

Caesar remembered Alexander, Malcolm's son. What will become of him? What do these people plan to do to them all? But most of all, he wondered if he will ever see his family and the rest of his colony again.

* * *

 **A's/N: Ooh, looks like Koba and Dreyfus are gonna have a fight sometime! Honestly, I'm a little disappointed that in the movie, these two didn't interact at all with each other. I think it would have been interesting to see them talk to each other and realize they both want the same thing. XD**

 **And now, we meet Dolly! Sort of! Again, I'm gonna let you guys figure her out but try to refrain from calling her a 'Mary-Sue' (even if you think she is, at least let her grow as a character before you make any accusations).**

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


	3. The File Room

**Finally! I've been working on this chapter all day! XD I actually started writing this a few days ago but didn't finish until now.**

 **Anyways, you'll meet more OC's in this chapter and..Basic meeting. I admit this may be a boring chapter, I know its longer than my other ones. Sorry about that.**

 **Enjoy!**

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The building the ape colony was allowed to stay in was one of the few buildings within the quarantine area that was still stable. The outside wall paint was chipped and the stairs leading to the entrance was falling apart. Unlike some buildings, this one didn't have any broken windows or gaping holes in the walls. There was some graffiti on the walls, but most of it was faded or buried under waves of green rubble. The inside looked better, the floor had old and fading carpet, the walls had peeling wallpaper and the furniture was dusted but still intact. It must have been a hotel or bed and breakfast at one point but was long forgotten.

"Are you sure it'll be enough for them?" Asked Ellie.

"It's the biggest building we have and it's completely empty." Answered Malcolm.

Dreyfus kept looking around, possibly searching for any prying eyes. "I'm gonna get lots of compliments for this." He muttered to himself.

The apes explored the building. The younger ones, in particular, found the place interesting and exciting. Even Cornelius wiggled in his mother's arms in hopes of joining the other ape children.

Amazingly, there was enough space for the entire colony in the building.

When the apes were all settled in, Maurice approached the humans. "Will it work?" Malcolm asked. The orangutan nodded.

"So now what?" asked Kempt.

"Obviously we're going to work as a team to get them all back. Humans and apes." Said Foster.

"Ape Council." The voice took all of the humans by surprise. It was Rocket that spoke this time, they didn't even know he was there. "Ape Council help Human Council."

An idea began to form itself in Malcolm's mind. He turned to Dreyfus. "Dreyfus, find us a place we could use and someone with FBI experience." He said.

Dreyfus had the same idea. "I know just the guy." He rushed over to one of the buildings. Presumably to find whoever he had in mind.

Malcolm then looked at Maurice and Rocket. "Get the Ape Council and follow us."

* * *

Blue Eyes felt conflicted. As an Ape Council member, he had to follow them and the humans and as Caesar's son, he had to help them find him. But he didn't want to leave his mother alone. Cornelia wanted to come too, but was still recovering from her sickness and had to care for little Cornelius, who clung to her neck tightly.

 _"Don't think anything will happen when we follow humans."_ Blue Eyes tried to assure her. The way she looked at him, you'd think he was going to a battlefield for war.

She didn't answer. Only looking at him with a sad and worried gaze.

 _"_ _I will be careful, I promise."_ He signed to her. Hoping that would work better.

Cornelia just shook her head. "Not careful...Stay safe…Stay Alive." Cornelia's words were small, but they were powerful.

Blue Eyes wished he could look her in the eyes and tell her he, and all the other apes, are perfectly safe. That the buildings and the many walls of the human city will protect them from the flying machine humans. That no one will die and even if they do, it won't be by this new enemy.

But deep in his heart, Blue Eyes wasn't sure if any place was safe. This new enemy seemed to come from all over. Tainting the forest he once called home and making the rest of the world seem like a cruel and unforgiving place. Everywhere felt dangerous.

 _"_ _Stay alive and safe. I promise."_ Blue Eyes decided to make that his goal. Not just for himself, but for the Ape Council and the other apes and humans too. Keep all of them safe, and all of them alive.

He wondered if his father would have made such a promise.

Meanwhile, Koba stood with Stone as they waited for Blue Eyes and Grey. Neither of them spoke, it seemed like Stone was too anxious for talking. Koba secretly felt relieved for that, his mind was too focused on other things.

He kept thinking about his mental list from earlier. Dolly's life, Caesar's death and destroying the human race.

He remembered the warehouse where he stole the first gun from. He could go back there and steel another one. Maybe get one for Stone and Grey this time. He wondered though…Could there be more weapons in that warehouse aside from the guns? Possibly something much more deadly and effective? Did such a thing even exist?

Maurice's stupid hooting ruined the bonobo's train of thought and he scowled at the orangutan. However, Maurice didn't seem to notice it as he simply followed Malcolm and the other humans. Rocket, Luca, Grey and Blue Eyes following behind him.

 _"_ _You're scheming again, right?"_ Stone signed to him.

To this, Koba gave a surprised chuff at the chimp. It seemed like the toad-face chimp always knew what he was thinking. He wondered if Stone ever knew what Dolly was thinking.

 _"_ _Tell you later."_ He signed back.

* * *

The person Dreyfus had sought out was a man named Derek Phoenix, who turned out to be a former FBI profiler. He was an older man, possibly in his mid-sixties, with white, thin hair and pale, brown eyes. Almost like the color of a fawns pelt. His white beard seemed to curl around his chin and jawline, almost like fresh stalks at the ponds in the forest. His skin was pale and seemed to match his hair color. He wore a light blue, long-sleeved shirt, long brown pants, and black boots.

The Ape Council felt awkward around him. Why? They couldn't say. He seemed normal enough, and he wasn't threatening at all. In fact, he didn't even have a weapon on him. He didn't even look the least bit frightened or disgusted with the apes as so many other humans have been.

They watched in silence as Dreyfus and Malcolm explained the situation to him. Ellie, Foster, and Kempt stood with the apes, seemingly unsure of what to do themselves.

"Those helicopters that came here and kidnapped those people, came to the forest and took some of the apes too." Even now, he still didn't regard the apes as people.

Derek's eyebrows furrowed. He was silent for a moment before speaking. "How many did they take?"

"The Apes did a head count. They're missing eleven." Malcolm answered. None of the apes minded that Malcolm was answering for them, they really weren't comfortable talking to this new human just yet.

"How old were they?"

"Some were adults and some were teenagers or younger."

"Did they take just males or just females or both?"

Why is he asking so many questions?

"Both."

Derek ran his fingers through his beard as he thought. "So they kidnap the same number of apes as they do humans, with no gender or age preference. That indicates these people are after both races."

"Yeah, we already figured that out," Kempt stated, getting a little annoyed with the older man. "What does it mean?"

Derek didn't even blink at the sudden outburst. "That lies in the details." He said flatly. "To stop these people, we need to understand them. And to understand them, we need to understand who they kidnapped. Not just their physical descriptions, but who they were as people. Both human and ape."

He then turned to look at the Ape Council for the first time. His eyes seemed warmer, now that they could see them better. "What are your names?"

Surprised, the Ape Council looked at each other. Was he actually interested in knowing their names?

Derek gave them a shy but gentle smile. "I can't keep calling you all just apes or Ape Council." They could see the sincerity in his eyes. There was a kindness in his eyes that was like Malcolm's. He genuinely wanted to know who they were.

While the Ape Council introduced themselves to the human, Kempt walked over to Dreyfus and nudged him. "Are you sure about this guy, Drey?"

Dreyfus looked at him. "Kempt, he's been an FBI profiler for forty years and has helped put more than two hundred dangerous criminals away. If anyone can help us, it's him."

"Still though, his last name is Phoenix. What kind of a name is that?"

"It can't be any more strange than having 'Dreyfus' as a last name." commented Foster, who joined them. Earning him a glare from the mayor.

"It doesn't matter what his last name is." This time it was Ellie, who now stood with them. "I honestly don't care if his last name is Phoenix or wiener schnitzel. If he can help us find these people and save Caesar, Alex, and the others, then we need to give him a chance."

Malcolm, Derek, and the apes didn't hear the hushed conversation. Malcolm only watched with a surprised smile as the older man talked to the apes. This was a man who had never seen the apes up close and never spoke to them before but he as he talked to them, he didn't look disturbed or frightened by them. He simply treated them as if they were humans.

Derek was still a total stranger to him but Malcolm had a feeling they could trust this man. Not just him and the humans, but the apes could trust him too.

* * *

The room was large and had cement walls, floors and ceiling. The rectangle windows were foggy with dirt, but were still in one piece. The building the room belonged to was practically a ghost building: several different rooms, little to no furniture, any and all noises made in the building echoed through the empty hallways. It wouldn't take much to be convinced the building was haunted.

This particular room may very well be the only one that wasn't empty. A large table stood in the middle with a chair next to it, a map of San Fransisco that was covered with pushpins hung on the wall with a box full of pushpins and another full of yarn next to it, an old whiteboard hung next to the map, desk with an old computer sat in front of the wall, the windows on the left wall actually had blinds, and the right wall was completely covered by a file cabinet and file boxes. Dreyfus recognized some of them from the old police department, but most of them looked like they came from other facilities.

"How did you get all this stuff?" Asked Ellie.

"Some I rescued from facilities that were set on fire by riots, others were given to me by their owners." Derek walked over to the map and stuck two pushpins on it. He then walked over to the whiteboard and wrote out some names on it.

Apes:

Caesar

Dolly

Ash

Lake

Red

Winter

Pope

Andy

Lucky

Pinto

Pepper

Humans:

Alexander

Harper

Bobby

Samson

Rebecca

Laura

Richard

Jimmy

Tobias

Caron

Mike

Derek's hand moved quickly as he wrote each name. The wheels in his head were turning, working his profiling magic. He then moved to the pile of boxes, picked one up and pulled out all its files. He then placed them on the table.

"Ten years ago, during the Simian Flu pandemic, there were a series of odd disappearances." Derek began to explain upon seeing the confused faces of the humans and apes. "At the time, police thought these people fled from San Fransisco to escape the virus, but when the theory was proven to be false, they believed they contracted the virus, even though it was never proven. Though they are now believed to be dead, their bodies were never found."

That didn't seem too strange to Malcolm and the other humans. Lots of people disappeared during those days and almost all of them left in hopes of escaping the virus. Only to ironically get the it and die. It could just be that those people all left and died somewhere else and were never properly identified.

Blue Eyes hardly paid attention. He was too busy looking at one of the files. he couldn't read the papers inside, but there was a picture of a male bonobo paper clipped to them. He never seen this bonobo before, but there was something familiar about him.

"So?" Kempt couldn't help but ask.

"I was assigned to the case when it was discovered that a lot of these people disappeared at or around the same time as one another." Probably a coincidence. But what Derek said next surprised them. "And it turned out, apes were going missing too."

Apes? The only known apes that left captivity were Caesar's colony.

"Escape?" Blue Eyes asked, now listening.

Derek shook his head. "You'd think, but no. They were kidnapped. In fact, they were kidnapped on the same days as the humans that disappeared."

Are humans and apes being kidnapped on the same day? A shocked silence fell on the group. Why would humans kidnap their own kind and apes? And how could they.. _Why_ would they...Do it on the same day?

Only Malcolm had the courage to ask the question. "Do you think it's the same people?"

Derek nodded. "It's possible."

Ellie, who was eyeing the map, now realized why the pushpins were there. "That's a map of where the kidnappings happened. Isn't it?" There had to be more than a hundred pushpins on the map in total.

"Yes, and that's just the ones I know about." Answered Derek. "If these are the same people, and they did not stop during the last ten years, then there may be more kidnappings than we think."

As if on cue, the sound of footsteps echoed through the building. The sound was fast and rhythmic and was like a scream in the near hollow room.

The apes and humans looked around. Who's there? A human? Probably. Good or bad? No one could tell.

Then, whoever it was, appeared in the doorway. "Oh, Jacobs it's just you." Said Derek in a relieved voice.

Something happened at that moment. The only thing Koba heard was Jacobs. Everything seemed blurry until he turned his head to see the person in the doorway. Only to see him standing there. Jacobs. Steven Jacobs. The human who tortured and mutilated him and his sister for years at Gen-Sys. The human he hated with every fiber of his being. The human who he last saw falling to his death in the ocean at the bridge.

Without thinking, by a rush of sudden pure hate, he lunged at the human with an enraged roar. Ready to tear him apart limb from limb. To dig his teeth into his flesh and drain all the blood in his body. To destroy and disfigure him as he did to him and Dolly.

But he never even touched the human.

To Koba's surprise, the human was more agile and, before he could comprehend what was happening...

 **SLAM!**

He hit the wall instead of the human. He laid there for a second, letting the pain sink in before getting up. Even though his arm and shoulder ached horribly, Koba was surprised to find out that they weren't broken. Despite having just slammed himself against a cement wall.

"Somebody's had too much coffee." Said a new, sarcastic voice.

Koba looked up. Jacobs was gone…In fact, he was never there at all…

The human who stood there was a female, with mocha colored skin and long, wavy pink hair that was pulled into two pony tales which hung loosely at the sides of her head. She wore a whitish grey sweater with the arms ripped off, fading skinny jeans with tears at the knees and old, black and white sneakers. She had to be at least twenty-five.

She wasn't Jacobs…Not the Jacobs Koba knew…But when he looked at her..His hatred boiled in him.

She had the same dark eyes as Jacobs.

The other humans and apes were silent. Possibly due to the shock of what had just happened. The first one to speak was Dreyfus. "Victoria?"

The Human girl smirked at him. "It's Tori, Doofus. But nice to see you again anyway."

Foster and Kempt chuckled at her 'doofus' comment. Dreyfus immediately frowned at her. "How the hell is your hair pink?!"

"Three words: Bleach! Hair! Dye!" She answered, protruding a finger with each word.

Dreyfus angrily turned to Derek. "What is _she_ doing here?!" He demanded.

"Ms. Jacobs had been helping me for the past eight years." Derek's voice was steady and flat, despite Dreyfus's anger. "I ask her to find me something, and she finds it for me."

"Finding things?" Malcolm asked.

"She has a knack for finding lost things." Explained Derek. He looked over at Tori. "I see you met Koba, Victoria."

Tori glanced over at Koba, who was now glaring at her. "You mean, Smiles?"

Koba didn't hear what they were saying. Or maybe he just ignored them. It didn't matter. He didn't know or care who this Tori was, but he could see Jacobs in her. His fur bristled with hate, and he knew…Even though he just met her and she didn't do anything to him, he knew…

..He wanted to kill her..

* * *

 **A's/N: See any familiar faces on that list? X3 Little confession, I originally wasn't going to have Pope, Red or Winter in the story but after reading BeetZel's 'Dawn Of War' story (which I highly recommend!), and looking more into their characters, I decided to include them. Not sure if you guys already figured this out, but my story does NOT follow War or Revelations (I didn't even read that book! DX) so don't be surprised if there are changes to a certain group that may not be named as of right now...If you think you know who they are, PLEASE DON'T SPOIL IT!**

 **And also we meet a few new OC's! Derek Phoenix and Victoria 'Tori' Jacobs! :D So why is Derek's last name Phoenix? There's actually a story behind that. Actually, much of Derek's character (and the story itself) is inspired by my favorite live-action TV show Criminal Minds (and a little of Hannibal, but not totally!). Derek's past will be revealed later in the story. Until then, give him a chance and don't judge him too quickly. If you don't like his last name, just call him Derek.**

 **Can you guess who Tori is? ^^ Like Derek and Dolly, Tori is one of the main OC characters in the story HOWEVER her role is connected to Koba's. 3**

 **And who was that bonobo Blue Eyes was looking at? XD You'll find out in a few chapters, he's kind of a surprise OC!. ;D You may also see some of the other characters that were on that list Derek wrote, (Pinto, Pepper, random humans) but most of them are just random names.**

 **Dolly, Tori, Derek, Pinto, Pepper, Harper and random humans listed on the list (Rebecca, Richard, Laura, Mike, Jimmy, Caron, Tobias, and Samson) are (c) Me**

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


	4. Protection

**A's/N: Oh wow, I was able to finish this earlier than I thought! XD**

 **So anyways, this chapter contains hints of who these bad humans are! If you think you know the answer, PLEASE don't say so in your reviews because that may spoil it for other readers.**

 **Don't know what else to add here, other than I hope you guys like this chapter!**

* * *

The door opened with a loud screech and once again, two humans came inside. This time, one carried a long chain while the other carried a taser. They unchained the apes from the walls and then chained them to the long chain. Caesar hesitated when they attached his collar to the long chain. Where were they taking them? What's going to happen now? He didn't want to leave the room with these humans but decided it was better not to fight them. Who knows what they'll do to him, or to his apes if he did.

Once outside the long hallway, the humans made them stand in a line facing the opposite wall where more apes stood. Caesar looked at all of them, relieved to find the others in the group.

Andy was next to an old orangutan and Lucky was in between two other chimps. Lake was at the far left and was with Pepper, a young orangutan, and Pinto, a young gorilla. She had her arms wrapped around protectively as the two youngsters clung to her. Red and Winter stood side by side. Red looked angry and growled at every human who dared to walk past him. Winter was shaking and was almost hiding behind the other gorilla. Poor ape was so scared, he looked like he was going to burst into tears at any moment.

The only one that was close enough for Caesar and Dolly to fully see was Pope.

Caesar didn't know Pope too well, but he knew that the scarred chimp was abused by humans and was experimented on like Koba and Dolly and because of that shared experience, he and the twins became friends.

 _"_ _Dolly, is your brother safe?"_ Pope asked.

 _"_ _I think so, he's still with the colony."_ signed Dolly.

Caesar never fully trusted Pope. It wasn't that Pope did anything against him, it was just...The way the scarred chimpanzee looked at him. The way his eyes darted…The way they looked at him..Caesar couldn't explain it, but there was something about Pope that rubbed his fur the wrong way. In fact, he was more uncomfortable around Pope than he was around Dolly-and she's the twin sister of the ape that pointed a gun at him!

Suddenly, the human's voices filled the hallway.

"How shall we start?" Asked one of them.

"All gorillas go to the recruitment area." Answered the other.

A few of them were already taking the gorillas and chaining them to yet another long chain. Caesar watched as they chained up the scarred gorilla from earlier. Then Red, who struggled with them at first, but was eventually overpowered by them. Winter reluctantly allowed them to attach him to the chain.

"What about this one?" One of the humans asked. Caesar realized he was pointing at Pinto. The young gorilla only hit deeper into Lake's embrace.

The human, who Caesar guessed was the leader, sighed in annoyance. "Yes, him too! **_All_** gorillas, regardless of the age or gender, **must** be sent to recruitment!"

Before Caesar could blink, they pulled Pinto out of Lake's arms. Lake lunged at them, baring her teeth but the humans used the taser on her. Pinto was attached to the long chain with the other gorillas in seconds.

"Is that all of them?"

"Yes, send them out!"

Caesar watched in dismay as the gorillas were led out, worried for Pinto. Red and Winter were big and strong. Red especially, and even though Winter wasn't the bravest gorilla, he at least was a member of the guard and knew how to protect himself. But Pinto was just a child, hardly even old enough to be in Maurice's class. Not to mention he was the smallest gorilla in the entire colony.

He genuinely feared for the youngster. Just before Red and Winter passed him, he signed _"Protect Pinto!"_ to them.

Neither gorilla said anything, Winter seemed too afraid to have seen him. But Red gave a nod in reply. Then they were gone.

"Now for the young ones. Take them to the children's cells."

Again, another chain was brought out and the young apes were attached to them. Lake tried to fight the humans again as they took Pepper, but was tased again. Even from where Caesar stood, he knew both Lake, and the small female orangutan were crying.

The young ones were dragged out of the hallway, like the gorillas before them.

The human's leader then pulled out a whip. "Now for my favorite part. Selection!" He then began walking down the hallway. Slowly looking at each ape he saw. He paused when he looked at Pope. He studied the scarred chimps eyes and then attached him to the third chain.

By the time he got to Dolly and Caesar, the human had a total of three apes on the chain: Pope, Ash, and the old female orangutan. He looked at Dolly first. Putting his hand on her chin to force her to look at him.

"See this?" He asked his followers. "She still has a light in her eyes."

"So?" A human dumbly asked.

"Apes with lights in their eyes are dangerous, dummy! They think! They feel! They inspire rebellions! We can't afford to have apes with light in their eyes in our captivity!" He roughly pulled Dolly closer to the chain and attached her to it.

His eyes then landed on Caesar and something changed. The human seemed to be eyeing him up and down. When he looked at him, it was as if he couldn't believe what he was looking at. The human took a clipboard from one of the other humans and then looked back at Caesar.

"Say your name."

Caesar blocked at him, surprised by his demand.

"I know you can speak, ape! Now, tell me your name!" The human demanded again.

Caesar looked at the human. Then at the taser. Should he risk getting tased and refuse to answer the human? Or should he answer him and see what happens?

He decided he was already injured enough.

"Caesar." He answered.

The human glanced at the clipboard again. A grin slowly grew on his face. He returned the clipboard to his follower. "Looks like we got the 'ape king', boys. Take him too."

"You sure?" Asked one of the humans as the other took Caesar and chained him up as well.

The lead human snickered. "Sure I'm sure. By orders of the Colonel, he is to be broken immediately!"

* * *

Another cell, but no chains this time. The cage Caesar, Dolly, Pope, Ash and the female orangutan were placed in was square shaped, with a metal gate around it. It was inside and right in the center of, what the humans called, the slave cell. The slave cell was basically a large, outdoor area with chimpanzees, orangutans, and bonobos and was enclosed by a metal gate and by cage walls as well.

Caesar couldn't tell which was worse. Inside the cage, where everything smelled, or outside, where the floor was really a blob of wet mud, and apes had to do everything from lifting and carrying rocks, to sharpening knives and making weapons.

From his spot in the cage, he could see Lake, Lucky, and Andy. The three of them had only been in there for a few hours, and they're already exhausted. But they were noticeably in better condition than the other apes. Almost all of the other apes were unnaturally skinny and had old and healing scars or injuries on their bodies. The worst were the ones on their backs. Those ones were long and trailed down from their necks and shoulders to their lower backs.

Unable to stand the sight of the wounded apes, Caesar walked over to Dolly. But before he could say anything at all, she looked at his wounds. Her eyes filling with concern.

 _"_ _They don't look good."_

Caesar had hardly paid any attention to his bullet and hook wounds. They only hurt when he moved or touched them. _"I'll be fine. Right now, we need to get out of-"_

 _"_ _If you don't get it looked at soon, it will get infected."_

That actually did sort of annoy Caesar. Did Dolly really think he could tend to it here? Without any herbs? He didn't even know how! In fact, she had a lot of nerve worrying about his wound, when it was _HER_ brother that tried to kill him!

"Later." His voice sounds like a growl. Now changing his mind, he went over to where Ash was. Leaving Dolly to her thoughts.

As soon as Caesar had left, Dolly sighed and turned her back to the other apes. _Caesar is under lots of stress right now._ She thought to herself. _Considering that we've all been kidnapped_.

Dolly herself was feeling stressed out too. The last time she and Koba were separated was at Gen-Sys, where they put Koba in one cage and Dolly in another. For years, she and him only knew the other was alive when the humans took them to and from the labs.

They were never in the same cage during that those dark years…..Except for one time.

 _Flashback:_

 _The humans come again in their white suits. Dolly tiredly wonders what they'll do to her this time as they lead her out of the cage and place her in another one. She feels uneasy once she's inside of it. Slightly nauseous even._

 _"_ _Are you sure, about this?" Asked one of them._

 _"_ _The boss isn't going to like this, but he's sick and needs his sister." Answered the other, who Dolly recognized as Franklin._

 _"_ _Yes, but are you sure it will work?"_

 _"_ _Positive."_

 _What are they talking about? Dolly got her answer when they brought her to another cage and put her inside it. It smelled bad, like vomit. he realizes it's her brother's when she see's him laying on the floor._

 _Koba is curled in a heap on the floor. His body shaking, his shut eyes weeping, and his face pale and green._

 _Dolly doesn't know what to do. She had never seen Koba like this before and doesn't know how to help him._

 _But when she steps closer to her younger twin, his one eye flickers open and he see's her. "Dolly." He signs._

 _"_ _Koba." Dolly signed back. She reaches out and touched his head. He feels warm. In fact, he's burning up. She runs her hand on him until she touches his side and he groans in pain. "Koba hurt?" She signed._

 _"_ _Yes. Koba hurt everywhere." He signed._

 _Dolly remembers the vomit smells in the cage and begins to have a good idea of what is wrong. She then lays down next to her twin and wraps her own arms around him in a warm embrace. She tickles and rubs him as she runs them through his warm fur. Neither of them says anything, they just stay like that. Eventually, Koba falls asleep and stops shaking. Dolly follows shortly after._

 _"_ _What the hell is this?!" The voice wakes them up hours later. It's Steven Jacobs. He glares at them as Franklin stands next to him._

 _"_ _Koba-the male, is sick, sir. Possibly from the trial run. I just thought that Dolly, his twin sister, could comfort him." Franklin explains._

 _Koba looks scared and hides his face into Dolly's neck for protection. Dolly just keeps her arms locked around him and glares up at Jacobs. Barring her teeth at him. If that human dares lay a hand on her brother, she'll go for his throat._

 _"_ _Maybe we should leave them alone-"_

 _"_ _Don't be stupid, Franklin! We need to continue the trial run of this new drug ingredient!"_

 _"_ _But sir, he's sick-"_

 _"_ _I don't care! We need to run more tests!"_

 _"_ _Why don't we try the ingredient in the other form? That way, this…Koba…Could rest." Said a third human._

 _The three humans are silent as Jacobs thinks it over. "Fine." He finally says. "But since these two are twins, I'm curious to see if their genes are or share similarities."_

 _"_ _Seriously?" Franklin doesn't sound happy._

 _Dolly doesn't know what they're after, but she knows they want to take her brother and she will not allow that. She glances at her younger twin, thinking. Then, she rubs her face on his head. Preparing herself for what she was about to do. Then, she let go of Koba, got up and walked over to the door of the cage. She would have signed something at the humans but she knew they wouldn't answer her anyway._

 _She was trying to intimidate the humans. Make them go away and leave her poor brother alone._

 _But her plan backfired..._

 _"_ _I guess we can take her." Said the known human. Jacobs grind, a horrible grin._

 _"_ _We can do the trial run for the Birth Control injection with her then." He replied._

 _Franklin looks horrified. "But sir! If the ingredient is harming Koba, it could Dolly too! It may even kill the-!"_

 _"_ _Oh for crying out loud, Franklin! I don't care if they live or die!" Jacobs suddenly yells at the other human. "We're wasting time and money standing here! Either do the damn trial run on her, or I'll do it myself and fire you!"_

 _Franklin bites his lips and glances at the two apes. The concern is his eyes was almost painful to look at. He sighed. "Ok...But! After the procedure, I want her returned to Koba's cage and both of them to be left alone until they recover."_

 _Jacobs rolls his eyes. "Only if it'll get you to shut up."_

 _They bring one of the rolling beds, and Dolly immediately realizes what they're going to do. They're going to take one of them to the room with pain. She turned to look at Koba, who looked so scared and helpless as he laid on the floor._

 _"_ _Dolly stay." He signed the tears building in his eyes._

 _Dolly wanted to stay. Now that she was with Koba, she didn't want to leave him alone and risk never seeing him again, especially since they separated for so long. She especially didn't want to leave him like this, sick and lonely._

 _Unable to do anything else, Dolly raised her hands and signed: "Dolly love Koba." as the humans take her out of the cage and place her on to the bed. She was restrained before she could blink._

 _As they take her to the room where pain comes from, all she can think about is Koba and hoping that if these humans do whatever horrible thing they want to do to her, they'll spare her brother. That if she never wakes up, it'll mean her brother won't._

 _When she's inside the room, the humans poke needles into her arms and put stickers on her chest. She forces her mind to become hollow and empty. Not allowing any thought or recognition of the familiar sensations she's feeling or of where she is. When they placed the mask with the funny smell over her face, she inhales and allows the strange air to fill her lungs._

 _She begins to feel drowsy and knows sleep will come shortly. At least she got to tell Koba that she loved him._

 _When Dolly opens her eyes, she finds herself back in the cage and finds Koba asleep. She wonders if the entire thing was a dream until she see's the fresh wound on her lower abdomen._

 _The wound is long and straight and is enclosed by stitches. Dolly had three of these before, one on each of her shoulders, and another, but longer one, running from the back of her neck to halfway down her back. But never one on her abdomen. It's strange, but she doesn't think about it. All that matters is she's back with her brother._

 _She carefully moves over to Koba and rubs his head, which was still feverishly warm. He wakes up and see's her. They hug, not saying anything. Koba didn't need to ask where the humans hurt her, he could already tell by the new wound on his sister._

 _"_ _Does wound hurt?" He signs._

 _"_ _Not yet, but will soon." She signs in reply. "Humans hurt Koba again?"_

 _"_ _No, humans left Koba alone."_

 _Relief filled Dolly. Whatever the humans did to her, it satisfied them. Maybe they'll try and hurt Koba again but for now, he's safe. As she wraps her arms around her sick twin, Koba signs one last thing before falling back to sleep._

 _"_ _Koba loves Dolly too."_

 _They stayed in together for several light cycles. During this time, they signed together and groomed each other. Dolly forgot how much she missed her twin brother and found herself feeling happier for the first time in so long._

 _The only human that came to them was Franklin, and all he did was draw their blood, give them injections, and put a long, metal stick into Koba's mouth-which never hurt, but always felt strange to him. Neither of them trusted Franklin, but the injections seemed to be making Koba better and he wasn't vomiting anymore._

 _The happy time proved to be only temporary when the humans took Dolly out and returned her to her own cage. Which now seemed even lonelier than she remembered and the second the door closed and was locked, she missed Koba._

 _She and Koba didn't see each other again, until the day Caesar freed them._

 _End of Flashback:_

That memory always brought pain and despair to Dolly. Not only what she and Koba endured at the hands of those horrible humans, but she now knew what they took from her. She and Koba realized it after they became smart.

Dolly knew and accepted the fact that marriage and a family wasn't in her future. Males want mates who can bear children. A female whose incapable of childbearing is not favored by a male who wants a family. But it still hurt, knowing that having her own children was an opportunity that was robbed from her by the humans.

 _At least I still have Koba._ Those six words were always the remedy for her pain. But she wasn't sure if she even still had that.

During the last few days, ever since they first encountered Malcolm, Dolly noticed a dramatic change in her twin brother. She and Koba always hated the humans, but Koba's anger still lived in his heart while Dolly's melted into sadness long ago. She simply didn't have enough room in her heart, nor the energy, to harbor the level of hate and anger that her twin carried.

But it wasn't just the humans Koba was angry at. Dolly had seen Koba challenge Caesar about it, and he had told her that he wished their king wasn't so sympathetic to the humans. She also knew about the fight Koba and Caesar had at the dam. She knew because of Maurice, who was her closest friend, told her about it. Dolly tried to confront her brother about it but he was gone for long periods of time and when she found him, he would refuse to talk about it.

Dolly glanced at Caesar, who was now sitting with Ash. The open wounds on the Ape Kings body looked even worse in the dim light than they did in the shadows.

Dolly had seen the distrust in his eyes when she talked to him. Why? Was it because she was Koba's sister? Did Caesar think she was against him too?

It clear to her that Caesar and Koba were both keeping things from her, and something was indeed happening to her twin brother. But what it was? She just didn't know, and she couldn't understand why they were keeping it from her.

Still…Dolly could not help but feel concern for Caesar. Next, to the wounds, he and some of the apes are now held hostage by these bad humans. He has to wonder what will happen to Red, Winter, Pinto, Lake and all the others, not to mention missing his family.

But what worried her the most was the wounds he had. A bullet wound and hook wound left untreated wasn't good, and could lead to infection and sickness…Or worse…Could it kill him?

She shook the thought out of her mind. She could not allow herself to think such things. However, she knew Caesar needed someone to protect him. He's been trying so hard to protect the other apes, and Malcolm and the good humans, that he seemed to have forgotten to protect himself as well.

Caesar, the heroic Ape King, suddenly seemed as defenseless as she and her brother once were.

 _I'll protect you, Caesar._ Dolly told herself. _Even if you don't trust me, I'll protect you like I would my brother._

* * *

Instead of horses, the stables held gorillas. Not very many of them, but enough to make it seem crowded. In each stall, there were at least three or four gorillas. Some were mostly black, but there were a few that had white fur-something Winter would have been relieved about if the circumstances were different!

Red wasn't sure if he liked sharing a stall with Winter and Pinto or not. He was relieved to be around familiar faces, but he wished they didn't consist of a big cry baby and an actual child. The second they were placed inside the stall, Pinto hid behind Winter and buried his teary-eyed face into Winter's fur. Winter looked close to crying himself.

 _Protect Pinto._ Caesar's words echoed in Red's mind. It looked like he'll have to protect Winter too, which annoyed him. Why can't that coward just quit his whining and take care of himself?

Ignoring the two, Red looked outside the window to get a better idea of where they were. However, outside didn't look much better at all.

Some gorillas had guns in their hands and were shooting at targets, others appeared to be learning how to throw small, oval-shaped objects. There was even some that were beating up chimps and bonobos for no apparent reason-though there were some that were being forced to by the humans. On the far right, there was a small building it looked like a house. But from where he was, Red could see that it wasn't. There was a sign on the top of it, but he could not tell what it said.

He watched the many different scenes unfolding outside. A gorilla hitting a target and being rewarded with a banana, another throwing the oval-shaped things, and getting a pat on the back from one of the humans, three of them brutally beating an orangutan, one gorilla wrestling with a human, a whole group of humans forcing a struggling gorilla into one of the much larger buildings…it was like a madhouse…Absolute madness everywhere he looked…

The place where the chimps and bonobos did not look any better. Even from where he was, too far away to be seen by any of the apes inside, he could hear the sharp and sudden whack the whips made and the cries the apes made when they hit their backs.

Everything Red saw, from the gunfire practice to the whips, gave him a sinking feeling. This wasn't supposed to happen…He and the others aren't supposed to be here!...All they were going to do was-…Red frowned.

 _This is all Caesar's fault! If he hadn't helped those humans, none of this would have happened! What did he think was going to happen when he allowed them in their home?!_

"You're new here." The voice was so soft, it was like a whisper but it broke the angry gorilla out of his thoughts.

He turned around, ready to pounce at whoever it was that dared to distract him…Only to find a female gorilla looking at him through the broken window from the stall next to the one him and Winter and Pinto shared.

The female gorilla didn't look any different than an average female, except for the old and healing burn abrasions on the sides of her head. But what really surprised him was her eyes...She had one eye green and one eye blue...Red had heard of this occurring, but he never saw it before.

"Y-yes.." He didn't know how else to answer. He glanced at the two cry babies. Pinto was still quietly sobbing into Winter's fur, while the older gorilla looked too occupied with comforting him to notice the female.

Red walked over to her, feeling a little relieved to have someone new to talk to. _"What's going on here?"_ he asked her.

 _"_ _They're preparing for the war."_ She answered.

 _"_ _What war?"_

 _"_ _The one they're making."_ She nodded in the direction of the gunfire and oval throwing. _"Bad humans don't care about other humans. They only want death."_

Red didn't want to believe her. All humans are the same...But these humans are different than the ones he saw in the human city. Those humans looked different from one another. Some would look at an ape and be afraid of them, and others saw them as beneath them.

Here, it was different. The humans all looked and acted the same and the way they saw the apes seemed to go back and forth. From beneath them, to just like them. If that's how it is with apes, who knows what they do to the humans they capture.

"What is your name?" Her voice was as soothing as the gentle current of a river. Somehow, Red felt comforted by it.

"Why?" The way her voice sounded when she asked was strange. Like she really needed to know.

 _"_ _In a place like this, names are all you have here."_ she signed. "I'm Tanoddah." She spoke.

Tanoddah. Unusual, but he liked the way her name sounded. "Red." He said, saying his name. He nodded in Winter and Pinto's direction. _"They're from my colony, Winter, and little Pinto."_

Tanoddah's face twisted in worry when she saw the two other gorillas. _"You need to protect them."_

Protect them? Red was tired of hearing that word. First, his poor excuse for a leader, Caesar, tells him that, and now this stranger?!

Seeing the look on his face, Tanoddah quickly signed: _"This place is especially cruel to children and to the fearful."_ She nodded into her stall, and Red realized there were three other gorillas in there with her. One the same age as Pinto, the other, a female, was slightly older, and the third had to be the same age as Ash and Blue Eyes.

 _"_ _Choy and Bella were born and raised here. Never spent a day of their lives outside of captivity. They never got to know their parents, or love and freedom."_ She then nodded at the older gorilla. _"And Cooper is from my colony. He witnessed his parents get killed by the humans and then was forced to kill his siblings. Before all that, he use to be very shy and fearful."_

Red was shocked by the look of the three of them. All three had this cold, emotionless look to them. Their eyes looked as if they belonged to dead apes: completely empty and lifeless. Just looking at them made him glance at Winter and Pinto, and then at the window.

Could these bad humans really turn Pinto, an innocent child whose only crime was being born a runt, and Winter, a coward with no confidence, into cold-blooded killers? The very thought of either of them killing anyone, let alone an ape, sent chills up and down Red's spine.

Turning back to Tanoddah, he asked: " _What about the other apes? The humans?"_

Tanoddah shrugged her shoulders. _"I don't know. Other apes are usually slaves but sometimes….They do other things with them too. Same with the humans."_

Red wondered where Caesar and the others were. Sure he no longer trusted Caesar, but he still cared about Pope, Andy, Lake, Dolly, Ash, Lucky, and Pepper. Were they being used as slaves? Or were these humans doing something else with them?

"Don't let them break you." Tanoddah's voice whispered to him again. "If you break, bad humans fix Red to their liking."

Red could only nod, understanding what she was saying. He and the others aren't being held captive by just any humans. These humans are dangerous, probably even more than he can comprehend.

"Tanoddah." One of the young apes called. Tanoddah glanced over her shoulder and then looked at Red. "I have to go. I'll talk to you later, Red." She whispered.

"Until then, Tanoddah." He replied. As she left the window, Red walked over to where Winter and Pinto were. Suddenly grateful for their company.

 _"_ _What's going to happen to us?"_ Winter asked as he sat down. Red just looked at the ground, not sure how to answer that.

 _What would Luca say?_ Taking a breath, he looked at the white gorilla.

 _"_ _Remember all the things we learned in the Gorilla Guard? About being brave?"_ He asked.

Winter nodded.

Red gulped, unsure of what to say next. Luca would know what to say. _"Well…Now we need to be brave...Braver than we've ever been."_ He started slowly.

Winter's lip trembled and his eyes filled with tears, and Red knew he was about to cry. _"I'm scared."_ He signed frantically.

Now, this was one of Winter's most famous sign. He used that gesture so many times, that Red often wondered if he could do it backward. But this time, the two words struck a chord with him. Red never liked talking about his feelings. He preferred to keep them locked away in order to think clearly. But...He found it hard to do so this time.

 _"_ _I'm scared too."_ He admitted. Averting his eyes from Winter. Not wanting to see the surprise in his eyes. Focusing on his hands, he added. _"But remember what Luca said about being scared?"_

Winter sniffled. " _That...It makes you weak?"_

Red blinked at him, surprised. Luca would never say anything like **_THAT_** to anyone. Especially to Winter. _"That wasn't Luca, who told you that?"_

"Dex." Winter wheezed out as tears ran down his cheeks.

Dex was a young gorilla in the Gorilla Guard. He was notorious for being a snob and always finding nasty ways to hurt the other younger gorillas. Red was never impressed with him...At least, not since that one time he covered himself in a bear pelt and chased Winter all around the forest until he ran into a tree. Winter wasn't hurt too badly, but he became so afraid of bears, that he would not go near one even if it was dead. That was too mean…Even to Red.

 _"_ _Forget about what Dex said, he's an idiot anyway."_ He signed. _"What_ ** _Luca_** _said was, being scared is what makes you brave."_

Now it was Winter's turn to look at him funny. _Wow, he wasn't good at this!_

 _"_ _Let me try again."_ He signed. _"Being brave is not running off into danger, it's being scared but doing it anyway...Does that make sense?"_

The side of Winter's mouth curved into a smile, and he nodded.

 _"_ _Good."_ Red smiled back, more out of relief that he managed to sign that right. _"Now, I don't have a plan and I don't know how we're going to get out of here, Winter."_ He admitted. _"But we're not going to die here."_

For the first time, there was a spark of hope in Winter's eyes. "Promise?" He asked.

Red nodded. "Promise."

The black and white little gorilla that had been hiding being Winter suddenly looked up at Red. Pinto's face was still wet and pink from crying, but in his reddened eyes, the older gorilla can see the same spark of hope.

 _"_ _Do you think we'll see the colony again?"_ He signed.

Now that Red wasn't sure of. Even if they did see the colony again, would all of them still be alive? Or will some be dead? He couldn't imagine such things happening, but they seemed very possible.

But who was he to tell Pinto that and ruin what little hope the boy had? _"We will try."_ He said instead.

* * *

"Sir, the deed is done."

"Is it ready for disposal?"

"Yes. We'll dispose of it whenever you're ready, Sir."

"Dispose of it….Tonight. I want that city to get a rude awakening in the morning."

"Right away, Sir."

As soon as the two humans were gone, the figure crept over to the ghoulish form. Slowly, careful not to damage it, the figure pried open the only thing that could still open and placed the object inside. Lodging it deep within so it won't fall out or be noticed by the humans. Once the object was safely tucked inside, the figure closed the opening and quickly disappeared into the shadows, hoping they had planted the seed that would result in their end.

Hours later, some humans came and retrieved the form, now wrapped in a package, and packed it inside the vehicle.

Completely unaware that someone was watching them...

* * *

 **A's/N: _DUN! DUN! DUUUUUUNNNNN!_ XD And yes, I realize I named my OC Pinto (which a kind of horse) and had him, Red and Winter IN a horse stable!...You may consider that as an unintentional and ironic joke! XD**

 **Did anyone here read Firestorm? (that's probably a dumb question, but there may be some people on here who have not read it) If anyone did, do you remember Koba's flashbacks? I wanted Dolly's to be similar to his. (and in case anyone is concerned about more relationship talk, no worries! I plan to keep that to a minimum and focus on the plot 99% of the time) The whole purpose of the flashback was to give you guys a good idea of what Dolly went through at Gen-Sys and what she was thinking and feeling both during that time, and during the earlier scenes in Dawn...You guys can tell I favor Franklin than Jacobs too, right? XD**

 **I'm gonna guess some of you guys don't like Tanoddah that much. In case anyone is thinking/expecting her to be a Mary-Sue, you don't need to worry about that. Tanoddah's whole role is to be a random face to prove Caesar and his apes aren't the only ones held captive by the bad humans and offer Red advise in that one scene. She has no other role and is almost irrelevant to the plot itself. (this story is crawling with OC's like that. In fact, 90% of the apes that are held hostage by the bad humans along with Caesar and Dolly and the others, are irrelevant to the story. You'll know who is who in later chapters.)**

 **And for the ending!...Remember when I said some part of this story may have gore in it and is slightly inspired by Hannibal? Be prepared for that in the next chapter! Now, I will insert my evil laugh: Hahahahahaha! XD**

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


	5. Help From The Inside

**A's/N: Yay, I finally finished this chapter! :D I had a little writer's block as I wrote this, so it took a little while to finish it...Though I have to admit, I've been updating this story once a week since I started it, which is better than my usual update habits. XD Also! This is the first of my stories to ever get TEN REVIEWS! :D (that may seem like nothing to those of you who get up to eighty or a hundred reviews but for me, that's huge!) Thanks, guys! I hope to get more as I continue this story! =D**

 **Little warning here! There will be some gore and some minor cursing in this chapter-consider it an early Halloween scare!...You'll also get a few surprises, as well..;)**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Don't you look at me like that! I know you did it!"

Koba ignored Dreyfus and just kept frowning at him.

"Admit it! You spat in my coffee!"

"Human! Lie!" Koba didn't know what this 'coffee' stuff was, but he sure didn't spit in it!

"No! **_You_** lie!" The human's face was turning pink with anger. "Filthy monkey!"

Now it was Koba's turn to be angry. "Filthy human!"

They've been doing this all morning. Dreyfus accusing Koba of various things, and Koba deliberately getting him mad. Blue Eyes watched them from the corner of the room with tired eyes. Waiting for them to either stop or start fighting physically. The young prince knew he probably should intervene or do something other than sitting quietly and do nothing, but he was so tired from having little sleep and getting up early, that as long as neither of them had a gun or a weapon, he didn't care what they did.

However, the argument was becoming annoying as Dreyfus and Koba's voices echoed throughout the near empty building.

Then, a new voice broke in. "Nice to see you found your match, Doofus." Tori stood in the doorway of the room. Her eyes glaring at the human and the scarred bonobo.

Dreyfus seemed angrier when he saw her. "Stay out of this, Victoria! This doesn't concern you!"

Tori defiantly walked over to them. "You're not the boss of me." She said once she was standing with the two. "And seriously, stop the propaganda talk already."

"This damn animal spat in my coffee!"

"Yeah well, maybe you deserved it." Tori frowned at him in annoyance. "When are you going to get it through your tiny brain that the apes are no different than we are?"

Tori made the mistake of glancing at Koba, who growled at her. Still distrustful of her, no doubt. But even the snarl of the scarred ape didn't phase the pink haired human. "Asking for round two, Smiles?" She asked sarcastically.

If it wasn't for Dreyfus and Blue Eyes being there, Koba probably would have strangled her. "Humans dangerous…Humans should die!" In his mind, this female human had become the new Jacobs. He could almost see him in her eyes. All his hatred towards the humans, all the hatred he felt in the last few days, had suddenly been focused on this human, who he barely even knew.

Tori was either genuinely unaware of Koba's rage, or she just didn't care. "You don't scare me."

Blue Eyes gulped, hoping Koba wouldn't do anything. Though he had to admit, he was impressed by Tori's boldness and being so outspoken towards Koba. Especially since the scarred bonobo had tried to attack her the previous day, and she could still look him in the eye with no fear…But he hoped she'd back off before Koba gets too mad.

Just then, Grey, Stone, and Foster appeared. "Hey, guys! Come on, we found something!" Foster's voice had a strange edge to it. Like he wasn't sure about something.

"What is it?" Dreyfus asked, relieved for a new subject. Despite it not being good.

"A dead body," Foster replies as the two humans and apes followed him and Grey and Stone out of the building. "Only...I don't know how to explain it."

Blue Eyes and Koba followed behind with Grey and Stone. _"What's going on?"_ Koba asked.

 _"_ _What human said. Dead ape and human found. Not ours though."_ Stone looked disturbed as he answered.

 _"_ _Something else."_ Grey looked just as disturbed. _"You two need to see this."_

Koba and Blue Eyes just looked at each other. Why did they suddenly have a bad feeling about this?

* * *

The body, if one could even call it that, was just feet away from the city. Blue Eyes and Koba immediately realized what Stone and Grey meant when they saw it. The body was a human, but it had a chimps face, arms and legs stitched to it and various patches of ape skin had been sown on the human's flesh.

It looked like a grotesque rag doll.

As if the body itself wasn't bad enough, written in red spray paint read: 'One in the same'.

The sight of the dead body grossed out Grey, as he looked away from it. Kempt refused to go near it. It seemed like the only ones that could look at the body without feeling sick was Tori, Ellie, Derek, Koba, Blue Eyes, and Luca.

"Tell me those two were already dead when this happened." Said Malcolm, who was looking away from the corpse.

Ellie was examining the stitched body. "They may have died yesterday, I don't think they've been dead longer than twenty-four hours."

"What the hell is wrong with these people?!" Burst Dreyfus. "Why the in the world would they do _this_?!"

"Could be to scare us, or to taunt us," said Derek, who had been silent since they discovered the body. "It certainly speaks to how they see apes and other humans."

 _"_ _Very bad humans."_ Signed Rocket to Maurice, who nodded in agreement.

 _"_ _They kill humans and apes...They don't care who they kill."_ Added Luca.

Koba and Blue Eyes were the only apes who didn't say anything. They just kept staring at the mutilated corpse in mute horror. What if that dead ape was Caesar? Or Dolly? Or Lake? Or even Pope? What if the dead human was Malcolm's son?

They stole a glance to each other, seemingly asking each other the same question. Could this be the fate of Blue Eyes father and Koba's sister? To be killed and ripped apart and stitched together with a dead human? The very thought genuinely scared them.

In fact, just thinking of his father like that made Blue Eyes feel nauseous. Koba felt it too, and neither ape dared to look back at the corpse.

If it wasn't for what happened next, the two of them probably would have left...

"There's something in the throat." Said Tori.

Just hearing her voice made Koba wish it were her laying there. He turned his head to growl at her but stopped himself when he saw her eyes. Tori's usual brown eyes had turned black and were squinted into a focused glare. It was as if she were a hunter, stalking her prey.

Tori got closer to the corpse, Ellie handing her a latex glove as she opened the dead human's mouth. Then, Tori reached in…

"Victoria!" Dreyfus gasped in disgust. Malcolm shushed him, though he didn't seem to like seeing this either.

Morbid curiosity got the better of Blue Eyes and, despite his nausea, turned his head.

Thankfully, Tori didn't need to dig too deeply to find whatever it was that was lodged inside. Once she had it trapped between her fingers, she pulled it out. She froze.

The humans and apes could only stare in surprise. Dangling from Tori's fingers, coated with dried blood, was a key.

"What the heck?" Kempt walked over and took the Key from Tori. "What is this? Coraline? What's next? A white rabbit and a hole?" Despite being very close to the body, his eyes were focused on the small, metal object.

"Be serious, Kempt." Said Tori, clearly unamused by his rant.

"Why would they hide a key inside of a dead body?" Asked Malcolm.

"Why would anyone?" Said Foster. "I'm telling you guys, there's something screwy about these people."

Blue Eyes hardly paid any attention as the others talked, the nausea was beginning to weigh itself on him. He felt as if his stomach were filled with warm water that splashed his insides every time he moved. If that didn't make him sick enough, he felt a strange feeling in his throat…As if something was stuck inside of it…Or worse, _crawling_ out of it.

"Blue Eyes?"

The teenager looked at the scarred bonobo, keeping his mouth shut. He suddenly felt worried that if he tried to speak, something other than words would come out.

Koba saw the look on Blue Eyes face. He understood why the corpse was a little too much to take in. Even for a prince.

 _"_ _Go to your mother."_ He signed to him.

Blue Eyes bit his lip. _"But what about the key? And you and the council?"_ He really did want to stay and help them figure out where that key went to and find his friend and father.

But at the same time, Blue Eyes didn't want to stick around and possibly vomit in front of everyone.

 _"_ _We'll take care of it. Just go and take a break."_

Reluctantly, Blue Eyes gave a nod and left. Koba glanced back at the corpse one last time.

How could he stand it? He wondered. Blue Eyes has never seen an ape get killed by something other than a bear before, but Koba had seen plenty of apes get hurt by the hands of humans. He and his sister were almost used to it. However this was a new low for the humans, and it honestly frightened Koba just as much as it angered him.

"Wait a second," Dreyfus said. Koba looked back up and realized the human now held the key. His eyes taking in every detail from behind his glasses.

Dreyfus then carefully scraped the blood off of the key. "I think I know where this key goes."

* * *

Despite the nausea, nothing came out of his mouth. Relieved by this, Blue Eyes just stayed sitting on the ground and drank water from the river. Trying to calm down and erase the image of the corpse from his mind.

The familiar smell of pine trees filled his lungs. This was the closest river to the city he could find and even though he still felt wary of the forest, it felt good to be back home. _Maybe this was what I needed._

When he finished drinking the water, Blue Eyes saw his reflection in the water. He stared at himself, from the eyes that gave him his name, to the still healing scars that danced across his shoulder and chest.

He looked the same, but he didn't feel like himself. He felt like the face in the water belonged to someone else, like he was a shell of his old self.

 _Why?_ He wondered. _Is it because of the corpse?_ No. The dead chimp and human wasn't what scared him...At least, not entirely...Blue Eyes slowly became aware of a fear he has had since the second he saw his father get taken away by the helicopter. Though he was positive most, if not all, of the other apes had the same fears, he didn't dare let himself think about it but now, he knew he couldn't deny it.

 _What if he and the Ape Council and the humans are too late to save them all?…What if his father and the others are already dead?..._

Blue Eyes bit his lip but didn't fight the thought from entering his mind. He thought about all the people that were kidnapped. His father, his honorary aunt Dolly, his best friend, Ash, his beloved Lake, Lucky, Andy, Pope, Red, Winter, Alex, Pinto, Pepper…Did their loved ones even get a chance to say goodbye?...To give them one last hug?...To tell them they loved them?...

A lump formed in his throat…He didn't do that…He never even got to reconnect with his father...

Suddenly, he heard a twig crack and Blue Eyes whirled around. Ready to pounce at whatever it was that dared to come near him.

But when he saw it was just his mother, the teenager immediately ran to her and hugged her. Letting his tears run down his face as she returned the hug.

Cornelia said nothing as she held him, knowing exactly why he was crying. She knew because she had cried the same tears as the colony slept. Her own fears were intensified by the fact that Blue Eyes was with the Ape Council, trying to find Caesar and the others. What if he was taken away too?

When Blue Eyes calmed down enough, he started signing. _"What if they're all dead, mother? What if we never see father again?"_ He asked. _"What then?"_

It was the very question that Cornelia had been asking herself all night long. If her Caesar was truly gone, what would that mean for her children? What would Koba do without his twin sister? What would happen if Ash and all the others died? She knew the bleak answer but didn't have the heart to speak it.

Instead, she said: _"They may die, but they'll never leave us."_ Blue Eyes raised an eyebrow as she continued. _"When apes die, their memory lives on. If your father dies, you won't see him again but he'll always be with you."_ She then placed her hand on her son's heart.

"Right here." She spoke.

Blue Eyes put his hand over his mother's. He thought of his father with every beat his heart made. He smiled at the idea.

Until a more troubling thought entered his mind.

 _"_ _What about Red and Pope? And Koba and Russell?"_ He asked. _"Dolly is all Koba has, and Winter's mother is already dead. I don't even know if Red and Pope have any family."_ Russell, Winter's father, was one of the gorilla's in the Gorilla Guard. Winter was his only child and Russell loved him dearly, and always told the white gorilla that.

Dolly, meanwhile, was the only one in the entire colony that could reason with Koba. As his twin sister, she probably knew more about the scarred bonobo than anyone else did. She may also be the only person Koba has ever truly trusted.

He didn't even want to think about what would happen to Russell and Koba if Winter or Dolly were killed.

Blue Eyes also didn't want to believe that Red and Pope were truly alone in the colony but, as far as he knew, neither of them had any relatives. Just a bunch of fellow gorillas and accountancies that Blue Eyes wondered would even mourn for them if they died.

Cornelia was silent now. Carefully thinking about how to answer that. _"I like to think that when apes die, they all go to the same place."_ She finally said. _"If Red and Pope die, they'll be reunited with their lost loved ones. Same with Dolly and Winter, and Koba and Russell would follow after them."_

Blue Eyes doubted that could happen, but the thought was comforting. He could easily imagine his father, being surrounded by ancestors and family long dead. Welcoming him with open arms and telling him that they've been waiting for him. Same with all the others, if they died too.

But Blue Eyes had a feeling he shouldn't tell Koba or Russell what his mother said. He suddenly felt worried that if they had the same idea as Cornelia, and Dolly or Winter died, one or both of them may become suicidal.

* * *

"Where are we going?"

"I'll tell you when we get there, just keep driving!"

Malcolm drove the car that Dreyfus, Ellie, Kempt, and Tori were in, and Derek drove the one that was behind them. While Grey, Stone, and Rocket were riding in the car, Maurice, Luca, and Koba were following the two vehicles. Climbing over houses and trees as they went.

"How can I drive us there if you won't even tell me where I'm going?" Malcolm was really confused. Did Dreyfus want them to get lost or something?

"You're not making any sense here, Doofus." Added Tori.

"Just shut up and-Stop!"

Malcolm slammed the breaks and the car stopped so suddenly, that everyone in the car slammed into their seats. It was only by good luck that Derek didn't crash into them.

Maurice, Koba, and Luca watched the two cars from above. What were the humans doing? Were they lost? The three of them certainly felt like they were. The buildings all looked the same, and the green plants everywhere made it hard to tell which direction they came from.

The humans got out of the car, Rocket, Grey, and Stone jumping out eagerly. "We're here." Said Dreyfus.

Rocket hooted, motioning for the other three apes to join them on the ground and in seconds, Koba, Luca, and Maurice were with them.

The house in front of them was nearly buried in weeds and vines, obviously abandoned by its previous owner. Though it was hard to tell from the ground because of the trees, the apes could clearly see a very familiar symbol on the window.

"The police department use to get tones of complaints from the guy that lived next-door to this house. Nothing major, just a bunch of domestic disturbances. But the guy that lived here had a father who had Alzheimer's and one time, we searched the house for any guns-we didn't find any, but I remember they had a basement." Dreyfus was in that 'act now, talk later' mode.

"Why would that matter?" Asked Malcolm.

Dreyfus looked annoyed. "There was only TWO rooms in this house that required a key. The front door, and the basement. And the basement key had this exact design on it." He showed them the key.

With the blood off, the group could clearly see it's design…Something only Maurice and Koba recognized but never understood it's meaning, and something all the humans knew very well. Though the design was chipped and faded, the silhouette was unmistakable.

"Why would anyone use a Hello Kitty key?!"

"Duh, to make it obvious!" Kempt answered Foster.

"That basement had only one key," Dreyfus added. "And Will was the only man I've ever seen use a key with Hello Kitty on it."

Ellie blinked. "His name was Will?" She asked.

While the humans had that conversation, the apes talked to each other in sign language. _"Hello Kitty?"_ Asked Grey.

 _"_ _It's something young human females often like. There use to be tons of them at the circus I was in."_ Signed Maurice.

 _"_ _I think Dolly wore that bow once."_ Said Koba, his face frowning as he tried to recall the memory. _"I don't remember when though."_

Luca, Maurice, Grey, Stone, and Rocket looked at the scarred bonobo. Humans made Dolly wear that bow? The suddenly couldn't help but picture Koba wearing that Hello Kitty bow and chuckled quietly at the thought.

"Anyways, if we're going in there, I'm staying outside." Said Kempt.

"But what if we need you?" Asked Ellie.

"I don't care, I'm not going in there if there's another dead body inside."

"I highly doubt there'd be another dead body in there." Said, Malcolm.

Foster glanced at Kempt, then at the other humans. "I think I'll stay out here with him, I feel a little weird about going in there anyways." He said.

"Fine, stay out here." Dreyfus spat. He turned to the apes. "C'mon monkeys." He said. Clearly ignoring the fact that they were apes.

Derek looked at him. "Dreyfus, please be nicer to them." He said, earning an eye roll from the mayor.

Luckily, the apes ignored Dreyfus and his insult. _"Luca, keep watch."_ Said, Maurice. Luca nodded in reply.

 _"_ _I'll stay out too."_ Signed Stone. This surprised Rocket, Luca, and Maurice but Koba just look bored and Grey looked sympathetic.

 _"_ _Why?"_ Asked Rocket.

 _"_ _I'm scared of spiders."_ Admitted Stone.

What? He had to be joking. How could Stone, a soldier of the Ape Army, be afraid of spiders?

Seeing the looks on their faces, Koba chimed in. _"He's not joking. I've seen him around spiders. Three words: run away screaming."_

Well, that changes things. Though there was no telling what they'd find in that basement, they definitely didn't need Stone running around screaming over a spider. _"Ok."_ Said Maurice, turning to Stone. _"You stay with Luca."_

 _"_ _I stay too."_ Said Grey. Earning him a few surprised looks from the others.

 _"_ _Are you afraid of spiders too?"_ Asked Rocket.

 _"_ _No, dark places."_

Luca, Rocket, and Maurice looked from Grey to each other. Then back at him. _"Grey, it's daytime and we're always in darkness at night."_ Luca pointed out.

 _"_ _Not that kind of darkness!"_ Said Grey. _"I mean the kind of darkness that comes with caves."_

 _"_ _let him stay out too."_ Said, Koba.

 _"_ _Why? Same thing?"_ Asked Luca.

 _"_ _Yes, only he tends to bang into things as he runs and screams."_

Rocket walked over to the scarred bonobo. _"How do you know this stuff about them?"_ He asked.

Koba huffed. _"Most of the time, I'm with Dolly or Pope but when I'm not, I'm with these two clowns. That's how I know."_ It genuinely both annoyed and amused Koba that the only two apes who truly knew how deep his hatred went, and knew of his attempt to murder Caesar, happened to be afraid of spiders and dark caves.

 _"_ _We're not clowns!"_ Stone protested.

 _"_ _Then what do you call the one time that spider landed on your head and you ran away screaming and banged into Grey, who fell into that pit that led to an underground cave and him running out screaming and scaring Winter, who in turn scared all the young ones?"_ That honestly had to be the dumbest thing Grey and Stone had ever done. It was only a miracle no one was actually hurt when all that happened.

The two chimps looked at each other, defeated by Koba's argument. _"Ok, fine. We're clowns."_ Said Grey grudgingly.

"Monkeys! Hey!" Dreyfus was practically fuming.

"Shut up! Human!" Koba yelled back.

 _"_ _Maybe we should go inside now."_ Said, Maurice.

Rocket and Koba said nothing, but followed Maurice inside the house, where Tori, Dreyfus, Derek, Ellie, and Malcolm were.

The house was even spookier on the inside than it was on the outside. Old and faded pictures hung crookedly on the walls, the rugs and curtains were old and caked in dust, the floor creaked whenever someone stepped on it, and the furniture had holes and tears in its fabric. If this was someone's home at one point, it obviously wasn't anymore.

The light from the windows provided some relief from the darkness, but it felt like the rooms had been in the dark for so long that even with light everywhere, there were still some lingering shadows.

It didn't take Dreyfus long to find the basement door, it was right next to the staircase. The key fit into the wall but, when Dreyfus attempted to open the door, he realized it was jammed.

"Shit." He muttered.

"There must be another way in somewhere." Said, Malcolm.

Before Dreyfus could answer, a sudden and loud crash rang through the house, startling everyone. The humans looked around, trying to figure out where that noise came from. Then, they noticed Koba and Rocket looking down at the floor with surprised faces.

One ape was missing.

"Where's Maurice?" Asked Derek.

"Down. There." Koba answered half-heartedly.

Sure enough, a big hole was in the floor. Upon closer inspection, the humans realized the wooden floor around the hole was weak and brittle. Possibly due to neglect. Maurice must have been standing on the dead floor and it collapsed, causing him to fall in.

Despite his sudden fall, Maurice didn't look hurt. He was looking up at the humans and two apes from down below. He appeared to have landed into a dark, cemented room. Even from up above, they could all see the dust on the floor where the orangutan stood.

"I think he just found the basement." Said Ellie.

"And a way in." Added Malcolm.

Dreyfus looked disgusted. "You can't be serious."

"Works for me." Said Tori. She then jumped into the hole and landed next to Maurice.

Rocket and Koba followed, then Ellie and Malcolm. Derek eased his way in. Dreyfus, reluctantly, went last.

If the house was creepy, the basement looked like it could easily be haunted. The ceiling was covered in cobwebs that extended to the cracked walls, the floor was uneven, the light bulb the hung on the wall was broken and appeared to have been reclaimed by a spider web. It was small, big enough to hold an orangutan, a chimp, a bonobo, and five humans, but probably not big enough to hold more than ten people.

Aside from the water heater, which stood next to the broken stairs to the far right, and the two boxes in the left corner that read 'Halloween/Thanksgiving' and 'X-mas', the basement appeared to be empty…Except for one thing...

The desk was against the wall on the right. It was old and ugly looking like it's sole purpose was to be in the underground room. On it stood a laptop, which was strange considering that most people took all their electronics with them when they fled during the virus pandemic.

Malcolm walked over to the laptop and turned it on, surprised to find that it worked. He put his finger on the laptop mouse and looked through its history and files. Nothing, the computer was completely empty. Either deleted or was simply not used.

The other's watched, unsure of what to do or what would happen next. Rocket and Maurice watched intently, fascinated by this strange, new object and curious about it. Koba ignored all of them, uninterested. All the labs he had been in had these things, they really weren't anything special.

Malcolm stopped when he finally found something. A video. Nothing else, just one video.

He turned to look at the others as if silently asking to click on it. To his relief, they all seemed interested-except for the scarred bonobo, who just looked away from them entirely. Typical of him.

With that, he clicked play.

The screen filled with the image of a man sitting in front of the laptop. Due to the poor quality, the man's skin was practically white and his hair seemed black. His long face distorted by shadows.

 _"_ _Caesar."_ Hearing the name surprised all of them. Even Koba turned and looked at the screen.

The man sounded upset like he was trying to compose himself. He sniffled and continued. _"Caesar, if you're watching this, I want you to know I'm sorry…I'm sorry things had to turn out this way.."_ He rubbed his eyes, was he crying when he made this video? _"..I hope you're happy in the forest...I hope you and all the other apes have everything you've ever wanted now.."_

He was silent before continuing, possibly thinking about what to say next. _"If...If you're not Caesar, my name is Will Rodman...If you don't know who I am, I'm..I'm the one that accidentally created the virus.."_

All five humans changed when the man said those words. Ellie stiffened, Malcolm froze and Derek and Dreyfus became glued to the screen. Koba, Rocket, and Maurice watched as Tori's eyes turned black once again.

The three apes recognized the human now too. Maurice and Rocket now remembered that he was the human who left Caesar at the shelter and Koba realizes that this was the human who he attacked and tried to kill in the forest after the battle at the bridge….The last human who ever experimented on him and Dolly. His stomach burned with regret that he didn't kill him.

 _"_ _I didn't mean to create the Simian Flu, all I wanted was to save my father and so many other sufferers of Alzheimer's,"_ Will spoke once more. _"I take full responsibility for the effects of the 113, the apes have nothing to do with it. If you want to blame anyone for it, blame me but leave them out of it."_ He reached into his pocket and pulled out the key, which looked better in the video than it did now.

 _"_ _I left San Fransisco. Not because of the virus, but because of something else…There have been people going missing...Apes from out of town too...Everyone assumes the apes joined Caesar, and the missing humans are believed to have fled...That's not what happened...They were all kidnapped."_ He knows about the kidnappings?! _"I know because I joined the people who have kidnapped them...I joined them so that I could protect Caesar and all the apes in the Muir Woods, but now I realize it's not just apes who need protection...I don't know what these people are up to, but they're enslaving all the apes they kidnap and all the humans are being held in cells.."_

Cells? Slavery? What is he talking about? Why would anyone do that?

 _"_ _We're going to the base soon. I don't know when we'll come back to San Fransisco, or if we ever will. But before I go, I wanted to leave something behind. I worked at Gen-sys and, before I left, I stole all the files of all the staff and scientists who ever worked at Gen-sys and all the files of all and every ape that was experimented on in the building. I have them in two, separate boxes, you'll find them under the desk."_ He held the key up.

 _"_ _This is the key to the basement. I'm locking it up and taking it with me. If you ever get this, it means I'm alive and I'll help you stop these people. If you don't get it.."_ He paused. _"..Then…Assume that I'm dead.."_ Will took another deep breath. He may have been crying, but his face was hard to make out because of the lighting. _"If that's the case, then..I'm sorry I couldn't be of any more help...But if I'm still alive by the time you get this video...I promise I'll help in every way I can."_

The last thing Will Rodman said before ending the video was: _"I understand if you resent me for my actions. But please know that I'm your side. I'm not an enemy of the apes or to the human race. I'm a spy."_

The video ended. Leaving a blank and empty screen, and a silent basement. The group stared at the laptop in disbelief. Shocked at what secrets it held.

When they finally broke out of their shock, Malcolm bent down and looked under the desk. Ellie, Maurice, Rocket, and Koba looked too.

Covered in dust and cobwebs, were two boxes. One had APES written on its front, and the other had STAFF.

* * *

It wasn't too hard to get the two boxes back to the building and into the File Room. It wasn't hard to get out of the basement either. And despite the confusing area, the Rodman house was in, going back to the city was pretty easy. The hard part turned out to be Kempt and Stone asking too many questions, Koba's grumpiness, and Dreyfus complaining.

"Doesn't Derek already have files?" Asked Kempt.

"Not these ones." Said Dreyfus. Who grudgingly glared at Derek, possibly annoyed with having to look over these files.

Derek didn't notice though. He was preoccupied with taking some of his existing files and comparing the names with the ones from the boxes Will left behind. "We need to compare these files with what we already have."

Ellie caught on to what he was saying. "Rule out any that belong to anyone confirmed dead."

"This is a waste of time! These are just records and backgrounds of idiot scientists and dimwitted animals!" Dreyfus argued. "Besides, we'll never get this done!"

Foster rolled his eyes. "Then we'll enlist help from the other survivors, I'm sure they'll be willing to help. If not, then we could just teach the apes how to read." He suggested.

Dreyfus snorted at him. "Do you really think these disgusting beasts could learn anything?"

"Do you really think you're better than them?" Tori shot back.

The apes tried not to let Dreyfus get to them. They just talked amongst each other about what they found. _"How do we know the spy-Will, will help us?"_ Asked Luca.

 _"_ _He sent us the key, isn't that enough proof?"_ Asked Rocket.

 _"_ _He made that..video?...Many years ago..What if he's like them now?"_ There was a cautious look in Stone's eyes. He was genuinely worried about this spy turning against them.

Maurice put a comforting hand on the chimp. _"Don't worry, Stone. If Will truly loved Caesar as his son, then he wouldn't have changed at all."_

The only ape that didn't sign with the others was Koba. The scarred bonobo was sitting by himself in the corner. Glaring at the humans with disdain.

Those files…One of them was his…And another was Dolly's…He didn't know which ones, but he knew they were in one of those boxes. He also didn't know exactly what was in them but, based on what Derek and the humans said, he had a pretty good idea of what it was. The thought of these humans finding out what Jacobs, and other humans, had done to him in the labs made him wish he had that gun back….He couldn't stand the possibility of anyone finding out how vulnerable he was deep down inside…

Derek noticed Koba's enraged face from across the room. The old human put the file he currently held down, and slowly approached the bonobo. He stopped a good few feet away from him and sat down on the ground so that he was at an equal eye-level to him.

"Are you ok, Koba?" He asked.

Koba snarled. How dare this human feign concern for him! ".Don't...Trust...Humans." He answered, reluctantly.

"I understand that." Derek kept his voice calm, knowing he had to be delicate. Just looking at him told Derek that Koba was on the verge of going on a rampage. "You have every right to not trust us, only you can decide that."

Derek couldn't help but let his eyes wander from Koba's blind eye to the scar on his face and the scar behind his ear. It didn't take much for him to figure out why the bonobo felt so much hatred towards the humans.

"But I promise you." He continued, keeping his gaze to Koba's. "Nothing in your file will be read without your permission. Neither will your sister's."

Koba blinked. Surprised by Derek's words. _A humans promise is equal to a lie._ He thought to himself. But Derek's voice was soft, like duckling feathers, and the sincerity in his eyes was real. Would Derek really allow him to keep his past hidden? Away from other humans and his fellow apes?

Despite his distrust, Koba felt the ends of his mouth slightly lift.

Derek returned the small, half smile. Knowing that he succeeded.

"Oh my god..!" Those three words changed the atmosphere of the room. Everyone froze and looked over to see who said them. Tori stood at the right side of the table, holding one of the files. Her brown eyes huge with surprise, as if what she was looking at, was something she didn't expect to see.

Her voice was shaky as she spoke. "..It's...My father.." She opened the file and picked up the picture.

The light from outside made the picture see-through…And even from where he was, Koba could clearly see the face...

Steven Jacobs.

 _Jacobs…Jacobs…_ ** _Jacobs…..JACOBS…JACOBS!_**

The rage and the hatred filled Koba, faster and stronger than ever before. In his eyes, Tori transformed. The pink-haired female human suddenly became the grey-suited human male that Koba despised more than any human. His chest burned, his mind raced, his breathing became snarls…

..The urge to kill Tori rose...

Overwhelmed by his own emotions, Koba ran out of the room and out of the building, ignoring the humans shocked gasps.

"Koba?" Malcolm asked too late, as the door banged behind the scarred bonobo.

"What got into him?" Asked Ellie.

Tori placed her father's file and picture down and rushed over to Derek. "What happened?"

"I don't know." He answered. "He was agitated a minute ago, but only because his file may be in the boxes."

At that moment, both Derek and Tori put two and two together. If Koba came from Gen-sys, and Tori's father worked there, then...

"Oh god!" Tori ran out after the bonobo. "Smiles! Wait!"

"Victoria, are you crazy?!" Dreyfus yelled after her, rushing as he followed the younger human. Ellie, Malcolm, Derek, Foster, and Kempt rushed out too.

"Leave him!" Grey shouted as he chased after the humans.

"Let! Him! Calm! Down!" Stone added as he and Luca followed.

Rocket and Maurice looked at each other. If Tori and the other humans had any sense at all, they'd let Koba vent his rage in peace.

 _"_ _This isn't going to end well, is it?"_ Asked Rocket.

 _"_ _I think we both know it won't."_ Said, Maurice. Reluctantly, both apes followed.

Little did they know just how bad things were about to get.

* * *

 **A's/N: Yuuuuuuuuupppp looks like Koba and Tori are about to go head to head! The next chapters are going to be mostly based around those two, so get use to them!**

 **And yes, I added Will Rodman to the story! :D Honestly, I was sort of disappointed that he was never seen/heard from/mentioned again since Rise (except for that cute home video in Dawn). When I saw War, I thought I saw him but realized it was Preacher. DX Seriously though, what the heck happened to Will and Caroline?**

 **As you know, Winter is part of the story and I wanted his father to have a minor role, and since he doesn't appear to have a name (as far as I know) I gave him one. XD And yes, I know Grey and Stone probably aren't like that in the movies and books, but I still wanted to add a little humor to them-same with Kempt. You may see this happen a lot in the story.**

 **I have one question for you readers...Does that dead body scene qualify this story for an M rating? I doubt it would since that's the only really gore-gore scene in the story, but I don't want to get in trouble for a wrong rating. If I should change the rating from a T to an M, please let me know and thanks!**

 **Just letting you guys know, this may be the last of my weekly updates for a while. Next week is going to be complicated for me and I need a little mental break to figure out where this story is going to go. XD I'll try and update it as soon as I can.**

 **Thanks for reading and please review! And Happy Halloween everyone! :D**


	6. Enemies From Within

**A's/N: Hello** **everybody! Ready for a new chapter? XD**

 **Sorry that I didn't update last week. Ya know those times in life when it's one thing after another and ya just have to go through the motions? Yeah, it was like that. Hopefully, I'll be able to return to my usual once a week updates again though, I have a particular chapter in mind that involves Christmas and I would like to get that one done next month...Course I have to get there first..**

 **Anyways, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Koba didn't stop running until he was deep into the empty city. By then, his mind was filled with a confusing blur of bad memories from the labs, the desire to kill all humans, and to top it all off, the face of Jacobs.

 _Jacobs is dead. You killed him._

 _I just saw him!_

 _It was just a picture._

 _No! He was there!_

 _She's not Jacobs. She's only his daughter. She doesn't even look like him._

His racing mind was giving him a headache. It was as if Koba was arguing with two people in his head. His rationality, and his own paranoia. But when he thought of Tori, he saw Jacobs. Sure she didn't inherit her father's looks, but he saw him in her nonetheless. Her eyes were **_his_** eyes. Koba put his hands over his ears, which were now ringing.

"Koba!"

His eyes snapped open when he heard her voice. How dare she speak his name! "Go! Away! Koba bellowed as he turned around.

Tori stood just mere feet away from him. She held no weapon, but Koba wished he still had the gun he stole days earlier. If he had it, he wouldn't hesitate to shoot her. _She wasn't here to help at all!_ His paranoia had won the battle in his head. _She want's to avenge her father!_

The others were right behind her, though they were smart enough to keep a good distance from the two. None of them knew what to do, Tori was completely ignoring them and Koba was already beyond reasoning with. They could only watch helplessly as the scene unfolded.

Tori took slow breaths to stay calm, she didn't dare take another step toward the enraged ape. If Koba was indeed a victim of her father's experiments, then he's as unpredictable as a hurricane.

"I know he was a bad man, Koba, but he's gone. He can't hurt you anymore." Her voice shook as she spoke. Tori felt as if she were walking on eggshells..And in a way, she was.

Koba growled at her. How stupid did she think he was? Of course, he knew Jacobs was dead! He was the one that killed him!

"Koba! Not! Afraid of Jacobs!" He yelled. "Killed Jacobs! Jacobs dead!" The words were an attempt to remind himself that the human he hated so much and tortured him for so long was truly dead. Koba didn't realize he said them out loud until it was too late.

The humans all gasped in horror, while the apes cringed. Things are about to get ugly.

Tori took one step back, staring at Koba in mute shock. Did he really?! She knew her father had died in a helicopter that fell off the Golden Gate Bridge, but she thought it was an accident. She never thought an ape, let alone one of his experiments, had actually killed him.

"Wh-What?" Was he being serious?

But Koba was too far gone. His paranoia and rage had taken over him, consuming him. "Tori! Plan to kill Koba! Fight for Jacobs! Avenge Jacobs! Tori! Just as bad as Jacobs!"

Now Tori was mad. Her eyes slowly turned black with each accusing word Koba yelled, and her face twisting into a frown. She boldly walked closer to the scarred bonobo, no longer caring if she was calm or not.

She was now just a foot away from him. This close, Koba could smell salt water and sweat on her skin.

"You think _I'm_ a monster too?!" Tori snapped. "I'm not the one who experimented on you! I didn't torture apes for no goddamn reason! I never abused anyone I loved! I didn't put money over lives!" With each word, came a bad memory of her own. From her father's ugly face to all the horrible things she and her mother ever went through because of him.

Her words took Koba by surprise for only a second. But his rage quickly took over. "Maybe not!" He admitted. "But! Are! Bad To the bone!"

"You don't know **_anything_** about me!" Tori was now yelling at him.

"You are human! You are ** _his_** blood! That! Makes! You! A monster!" Koba yelled back.

"Well, at least I'm not a brainless lab rat like _you_!"

It was like time stopped when Tori said that. The humans froze, the apes became silent, the wind seemed to suddenly grow colder, and the air felt heavier. Koba's eyes widened with a new kind of rage. Tori's horrific words echoed in his mind. Lab rat?! **Lab rat?! LAB RAT!? HOW DARE SHE CALL HIM THAT!**

 _She's going to die for that!_

Tori had just enough time to turn around and run before the now enraged bonobo lunged at her and chased her. He managed to grab both of her ponytails and yanked them as hard as he could. Tori retaliated by punching him in the face, right in his blind eye. Koba recoiled from the sudden blow, one hand covering the left side of his face.

 _She won't get away with this!_

Thinking he was down, Tori charged at Koba. But, to her surprise, Koba used her own actions to his advantage and gave a punch of his own, knocking her to the ground. Tori landed on her side, blood running down her nose. Koba raised his hand again at her, but she kicked him in the stomach before he could hit her.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Ellie yelled, but her voice fell on deaf ears.

"We need to do something! He could seriously hurt her!" Said Kempt.

No one noticed Blue Eyes as he approached the Ape Council. Having finally recovered from his nausea, he had decided to return to the group…He was not expecting to find his honorary uncle and the pink-haired human fighting each other.

The prince walked over to Maurice and asked: _"What's going on?"_

 _"_ _We just found out that Tori is the daughter of one of the humans who abused Koba. She tried to talk to him. It didn't work out well."_ The orangutan answered.

Stone kept looking away from the fighting, perhaps afraid he'll see one of them get killed. Grey, Rocket, and Luca were arguing about what to do. Maurice himself just wanted them to stop. Blue Eyes glanced back at the scene, unsure if he should be shocked at Koba's brutality or at how badly he and Tori were injuring each other.

 _What would Father do?_

Koba wheezed as he felt his insides get punctured by Tori's foot. He staggered back, holding his tender abdomen. As angry as he was, Koba was genuinely surprised by how much that hurt.

As the scarred bonobo tried to catch his breath, Tori took the chance to try and run away. But Koba saw her get up and snarled. He again lunged at her, but this time, she didn't get away in time. He caught her and wrapped his hands around Tori's neck and started to squeeze. He was going to do it! He was going to kill her! Koba no longer cared that he didn't have a weapon, he wanted to strangle the life out of her.

"Victoria!"

"Koba, stop!"

"Someone get a gun! He's going to kill her!"

"Dreyfus, that's not helping!"

 _What would Father do?….What would_ ** _I_** _do?!_

Tori could feel her throat closing as Koba's grip tightened around her neck. She knew she could die in his hands if she didn't do something, but Koba was beginning to squeeze to tightly, that she couldn't breathe. _Is this really how it ends for me?_ She wondered as her eyes locked with Koba's. _What did my father do to make you like this?_

 **"** **NOOOOOOOOO!"**

The voice was like thunder, loud enough that it woke Koba up from his rage. His grip loosened from Tori's throat, who looked just as surprised by the voice as he did.

The humans and apes looked around. Was it really..? The only person they knew who could bellow that word like that was Caesar…

But no, it wasn't the Ape King.

Blue Eyes stood there, chest heaving from the effort of yelling like that. Did he just do that? He sounded just like Caesar! _If only Father was here._

 _Bang!_

The noise was distant but loud enough for the humans and apes to hear it.

 _BANG!_

That time it was louder, causing the group to look around. What's making that noise?

 ** _BANG! CRASH!_**

Koba, forgetting all about Tori, eyed all the buildings. Trying to locate where the loud noises were coming from. Once she knew she was safe from the bonobo's wrath, Tori got up and joined the other humans. She gingerly touched her neck, running her fingers on the red skin. She'll probably get bruises later, but at least she won't die today…

..Or would she?...

The building next to them was suddenly crashed into and started to collapse. The humans and apes ran to a safer distance. When they looked back, they were met with a confusing sight.

The thing that crashed into the building was a crane with a wrecking ball. The entire thing was camouflage painted, like military clothes. But on the side, in Greek style, the letters AO were written in white spray paint. The driver was hidden by the dirty window, but his silhouette was easy to make out.

Despite the possibility that the machine may not have been used in a long time, it crashed and destroyed buildings as if they were nothing and was moving faster than it was designed to. Was it modified somehow?

There was another crash. This time, it was caused by a bulldozer that was painted in the same fashion as the wrecking ball. The two machines were moving in the same direction the humans and apes just came from. It didn't look like there were any more, but the possibility was real all the same.

It took Malcolm a moment to realize where they were going. "They're heading to the quarantine area!"

"Why the hell would they-?"

"Isn't it obvious?! They're going to destroy it!"

"The ape colony and the survivors are there...Good god!"

With that, the humans and apes ran after the two machines, dodging any and all debris that rained down on them. Even Koba and Tori, abandoning their fight, followed.

"What's the plan?!" Yelled Dreyfus.

"Stop them!" Yelled Malcolm. "There should be a motor or gas tank or something that's allowing them to move-!" He ducked as a piece of concrete missed his head. "If-! If we could just turn them off, they'll stop moving!"

"How are we gonna do that?! They're moving faster than I could think!" Kempt shouted as he struggled to keep up with the others. He wasn't a very fast runner.

Blue Eyes kept staring at the wheels of the machines. How they pressed and grabbed into the ground and pulled the machines bodies forward. What if they..? "Traps!" He yelled. "Slow! Them down! Turn them off!"

It had to work. The humans and apes didn't have to say anything more, they knew what they had to do. The apes ran towards the buildings the machines weren't destroying and climbed on to the rooftops and continued to follow them. Still, on the ground, the humans ran in different directions, picking up and grabbing anything that could be used as a weapon.

Foster and Kempt found a barrel full of tar (possibly left over from past attempts to reclaim the city). Maybe this stuff could slow them down? Ellie found firecrackers, while Malcolm found matches. Tori, meanwhile, picked up a knife. It wasn't big, but it was sharp. Sharp enough to slash tires? Or at least, protect herself?

The ball that hang from the crane was now dangerously close to the apes, causing them to move faster. It was impossible to tell which one was scarier. The giant ball that could deliver death with one blow, or the claw that pushed buildings down like dominos. At that moment, Blue Eyes, Koba, Luca, Rocket, Grey, Stone, and Maurice were half trying to get ahead of the machines, half running for their lives.

Eventually, they had to jump to the building next to them. _"What do we do?"_ Asked Rocket as he inhaled.

Blue Eyes glanced back at the crane. What if…What if that big ball couldn't move?...It looked like it could get stuck if something were to wrap around it.

 _"_ _Get vines, ropes, wires. Anything that can wrap around that thing!"_ He signed.

Stone found something and held it up. _"Like this thing?"_ It was a net.

Down on the ground, Ellie and Malcolm threw the now lit firecrackers at the bulldozer. Successfully getting a few inside the broken windows and in the wheels. The crackers exploded, causing smoke to spill out from the windows and around the machine. The driver insides gave a scream of shock and possible pain, but the sudden explosives didn't seem to cause much damage.

To their surprise, the driver jumped out of the machine. He wore ragged army fatigues and a helmet on his head. He pointed his gun directly at Ellie and Malcolm and started firing at them. As the couple ducked for cover, the shooter didn't notice Tori sneak up behind him with her knife until...

 ** _Slice!_**

Tori had jumped up at his back and slit his throat from ear to ear. The man was dead before he hit the ground. His blood now covered Tori's knife who promptly dropped it. Seemingly terrified of what she just did.

"Tori, you saved us." Said, Ellie, as she approached the younger woman. She placed her hand on Tori's shoulder, offering her some comfort.

Tori's brown eyes were locked onto the dead man who laid in front of her. She never killed anyone before, and never really wanted to either. It was hard to tell from the front, but on the back of the helmet was the words _The REAL Mr. Clean_ written on it. "I know." Was all she could say.

She forced herself to look at Ellie and Malcolm. "Let's get that other A-hole." Tori hoped that the other driver would remain alive. She hoped they could hold him captive and question him. She doubted he'd be willing to tell them anything, but it's worth a try anyway.

In the short time they had, the apes were able to find two fishing nets and connect them. They also found several other pieces of rope, some vires and cable cords, and even some yarn. They tied them all up and then, Maurice, Luca, Rocket, and Stone made their way to the building across from the others.

Once there, Luca threw one eye of the net over to them while Maurice and Rocket held the other edge. Blue Eyes, Koba, and Grey caught the edge and held it tightly.

Figuring out what the apes were planning, Kempt, Foster, Derek, and Dreyfus brought the tar barrels under the buildings the apes were and emptied the black ooze onto the street.

First, the wrecking ball hit the net. The many cables, ropes, and wires wrapped around the crane and trapped it in a web and forcing the ball closer to the machine. When the crane moved, the ball swung and almost hit the machine itself.

Then, the tires got stuck into the tar. Maybe it was the result of the driver trying to get the large thing to move, or by the ball being so close, but the crane began to tip over and fell forward.

The apes joined the humans on the ground, all eyes were on the fallen machine. Malcolm held the gun that originally belonged to the first driver, pointing it at the door. Ready to fire at any minute.

"Come out with your hands up!" That was the first time in years that Dreyfus had spoken those words. A moment of nostalgia washed over him, but he forced himself to focus on what was happening right now.

Suddenly, the door swung open and a hail of bullets rang out. "We are the Beginning and the End!" The man bellowed.

"Run!" Foster yelled.

The humans and apes ran, hiding behind ruined buildings and taking refuge inside the ones that were still standing. One bullet hit Maurice, but the orangutan wasn't too badly injured and hid in the building Blue Eyes and Koba hid in.

Despite having a gun of his own in his hands, Malcolm was shot in the right arm and, in his attempt to get away from the gunfire, dropped the firearm…Big mistake…The shooter picked the gun up and began firing at both directions. He didn't seem to be aiming at anyone in particular, he just kept shooting bullets.

Blue Eye, Maurice, and Koba were the only ones in the building. The room they were in had white and black tiled floors, fading white walls, and small, metallic tables and chairs that were now rusted and scattered about on the ground. The glass on the counter in the right was broken, and glass laid everywhere in that area.

The worst part was the smell. It smelled musty, like something rotten was inside and the stink itself was dying. None of the three dared to come any closer to the counter.

The chimp and bonobo busied themselves by helping Maurice stand. The orangutan was holding the upper part of his right cheek flap, the place where the bullet hit him. He was lucky the bullet didn't come any closer than that.

 _"_ _I don't know what to do now."_ Said Blue Eyes. It was as if his father had been guiding him and now left him. The courage and the ability to think that the prince had, was suddenly gone. Making him feel like a scared child.

Koba just gave a nod to the prince. _"It's alright, Blue Eyes."_

 _"_ _You were like your father out there,"_ Maurice added. _"In more ways than you realize."_

Blue Eyes bit his lips as he took in their words. He wasn't his father. His father wasn't afraid of anything, his father always knew what to do, his father could solve any problem. _All I am is his son._

Suddenly, the door next to the counter opened. The three apes stiffened, expecting it to be the shooter, but were surprised to see Tori run inside instead. The pink haired human was holding her left arm, which was bleeding. Was she shot?

She apparently didn't realize the apes were inside with her until she looked over and saw them. However, her gaze fell on Koba. Who's own gaze was locked on her as well.

Koba slowly walked closer to the human, not taking his eyes off of her for a second. Neither did Tori, she just watched the scarred bonobo with wide, unblinking eyes.

Blue Eyes and Maurice cringed. Were they going to fight again? Was Koba seriously going to try and kill her a second time while a madman was shooting away outside?

Koba's green and milky eyes looked deep into Tori's dark brown ones. He expected to see Jacobs in her like earlier. He expected to see the same callousness and arrogance that Jacobs had. But to his surprise, he didn't see any trace of him in her.

It was only now that Koba realized Tori's eyes were different than Jacobs. Sure they had the same eye color, but the feeling wasn't the same. Jacobs' eyes were cold, greedy and uncaring. But Tori's…The bonobo couldn't explain it, but there was something else in her eyes.

And at that moment, being wounded, and the danger outside, Tori's eyes held one thing that Koba himself knew all too well. A feeling he would never admit to feeling.

She was afraid. She was vulnerable…And her vulnerability reminded Koba of…Of..

The sudden gunfire shot through the room. The crazed human outside didn't enter the building, but fired at it anyways. The stray bullets missed the four inside but hit the ceiling instead.

The metal tiled ceiling was old and falling apart on its own, but the bullets made lose parts fall. One part was directly over Koba and Tori's heads. It took just one bullet to make it fall.

Koba didn't think. He didn't tell his body to move, yet it did. He shoved Tori out of the way before he realized what he was doing.

The metal hit his head, and Koba found himself on the floor in seconds. Tori's alarmed face was the last thing he saw.

Blue Eyes, Maurice, and Tori were now frozen, huddled around the unconscious bonobo as the room around them crumbled.

The shooter entered, both guns pointed at them. The two apes and the human ducked, expecting to feel the bullets rip through their bodies and kill them…Instead, they heard a loud **_PANG!_** When they looked up again, they saw the shooter on the floor. Dead or out cold, they couldn't tell. The human who now stood in his place was Foster.

The human held a metal baseball bat in his hands, he stared at the human with surprised eyes before looking at the others.

"Are you all ok?"

"K-Koba...Hurt..Tori and Maurice too." Blue Eyes could hardly speak, he was shaking so hard.

Foster looked at Koba, then at Tori and Maurice. Then back to Blue Eyes. "I'll get Ellie."

* * *

Sleep proved to be nonexistent for Caesar. Every time he tried to fall asleep, he would either be woken up by the many noises in the base or have a horrible nightmare. The images he would see in these bad dreams haunted him for the rest of the day: Blue Eyes, Cornelia and Cornelius crying out for him, his ape colony being killed, Koba pointing a gun at him, Malcolm and the others turning against him.

If his dreams weren't bad enough, Caesar began to feel sick. His vision was becoming blurred, his head ached, and despite his body feeling hot, he wished he had something warm to wrap around himself.

Dolly had noticed this and began giving him her food and water. For some reason, the humans gave rations to Pope, Ash, Dolly and the orangutan, but never to Caesar. At first, the Ape King refused anything the female bonobo gave him out of distrust. But reluctantly accepted after realizing just how hungry he was. It wasn't long until Ash started doing the same, following Dolly's example to help keep their king alive.

Pope, however, didn't even spare a crumb to Caesar. He just watched in disdain as the Ape King fell back to sleep after drinking the water Dolly gave him. Once he was sure Caesar was asleep, his angry gaze fell on Dolly.

 _"_ _Why are you helping him?!"_ He asked angrily.

Dolly was taken aback by his words. _"He's our king, Pope. It's the right thing to do. I thought you knew that."_ Dolly was no stranger to Pope's dislike of Caesar, but this was different.

 _"_ _It's his fault we're in here in the first place! If he didn't let those humans near our home, none of this would have happened!"_ Pope's hands were moving so fast with anger, that Dolly had to focus extra hard to understand his signs.

 _"_ _That's not fair, Pope! Caesar doesn't have any more control than we do, and those humans aren't even with these ones!"_

 _"_ _I don't care! He was suppose to protect us and he didn't!"_ If only Koba was here, he'd agree with him!…Although, the scarred bonobo has been acting different since the humans were discovered. Pope hadn't talked to him in days. _"Caesar is weak! Look at him, he's unfit to lead us!"_

Dolly hissed at him. But despite her anger, she knew there was some truth in Pope's words. Caesar's health was obviously deteriorating. His wounds were no longer bleeding but were oozing thick and yellowy pus, and what little food she and Ash could offer simply wasn't enough. It felt like the humans were deliberately letting him become weak, but why?

 _"_ _He's only like this because of the humans! Once he heals, he'll be strong again."_ If. **_If_** he get's better. But Dolly didn't want to think about that possibility.

Ash, who was sitting next to Caesar, watched them argue helplessly. _"The colony and the good humans will find us."_ He said, hoping that maybe if he mentioned the others, they'd stop. _"My father and mother, aunt Cornelia, Blue Eyes, uncle Koba,...What if they're on their way here right now?"_

Ash's words only angered and annoyed Pope. How can he be so foolish and believe the colony could figure out where they are and who took them in such a short time? _"Don't be stupid, boy! We've only been here two days!"_

Tears began to fill Ash's eyes, but Pope didn't stop. The biting words just kept coming.

 _"_ _They'll_ ** _NEVER_** _find us! Caesar can't protect us! We're all on our own!"_ Pope knew he was being harsh, but he didn't care. Ash needed to know the truth eventually, and he wasn't going to let Dolly poison his head with false hope or let Caesar's influence stick in the young chimp's mind.

Ash, now whimpering, ran over to Dolly and hid his head in her shoulder. Dolly only wrapped her arms around her honorary nephew. She glared at Pope with enough anger to make the scarred chimpanzee back away.

"What's...Wrong...With you?" Dolly's voice could make mountains fall. Her tone wasn't threatening but it was equivalent to being cornered by an enraged bear and Pope had faced enough grizzlies to know better than to anger her further.

Just then, the humans opened the door and two of them came in. They only had to take one step towards Caesar for the apes to realize what was happening. Dolly lunged at them, ready to harm any human who'd dare lay a hand on Caesar.

But the humans were too fast, and in seconds, Dolly was tased and put in a cage. Ash tried to fight but ended up caged as well. Caesar, who was barely was conscious merely dragged into a cage. Not a single movement came from him.

"What about these two?" Asked one of the humans, pointing at Pope and the old orangutan.

The other shook his head. "No, just these three."

The humans closed the door behind them, locking it before leaving with the three apes. Pope blinked in disbelief. What just happened? Where were they taking them?

 _Who cares, as long as they don't take me!_ Pope felt a little guilty when he thought that. Sure, Caesar deserves whatever he gets, but Ash was just a teenager who did nothing but repeat the Ape King's rules and Dolly, even if she didn't agree with him, was still his friend.

Despite his guilt, Pope's resentment grew. Caesar wasn't worth worrying for. He's unfit as a leader, and a foolish king who lets his feelings for humans corrupt his mind. _I can do better than him._ ** _I_** _can save us._ ** _I_** _can get us all out of here!_ ** _I can be a better leader than Caesar!_**

Pope had mentally ranted like this before. It was his favorite way to rebel against Caesar. He wasn't the only one to have these thoughts, Red, Rex, and Bon shared them-sometimes, Koba did as well. There were somethings, however, that Pope chose to keep in his own mind. His wishful thoughts, his evil fantasies. But this time, he realized, he had a chance.

If Caesar's health continues to get worse, he'll die. And if his wounds don't kill him, the humans could. _That would make it easy to eliminate him._ But the colony would still be loyal to him, and may still follow this rule…And if Caesar dies, won't that just mean one of the others in the Ape Council will take over? Or would it be Blue Eyes who'd take his father's place?

Suppose he could convince his friends to join him. He wouldn't have to ask Rex and Bon, they would be on his side instantly and while Red wasn't technically a follower to him, he knew the red and black gorilla could easily choose him over Caesar. Koba? Maybe him too…Although, Pope had a feeling Dolly wouldn't join or allow her brother to either.

While Koba carried enough rage and hate on his shoulders to kill a million humans and was willing to do so if, given the opportunity, Dolly didn't think like that. Her best quality, her protective nature, was also her greatest flaw in Pope's eyes. In some ways, she was just as gullible as Caesar! Plus, her bond with her twin was so strong, that Pope wondered if she'd actually forbid Koba from taking his side.

However, since he considered Dolly a friend and ally, Pope decided he'd spare her life. Regardless of her choices…He'll let her live…But he doubted her bond with Koba will... _That depends on Koba himself._

The rest of the colony won't follow him, but he knew a good place to start a new one. The apes in..wherever _here_ is...There's tons of them! Orangutans, chimps, gorillas, bonobos...Enough to make an even bigger colony.

Caught up in his vision, Pope looked outside. His face dropped when he saw the apes, now he knew why Caesar looked concern when he saw them.

All the apes Pope saw were covered in scars, mud, and dirt. They moved slowly as if they hardly noticed the ground beneath them. Most of them didn't look at anything other than the rocks they pushed and logs they carried. It was a scene of something deeper than just depression, worse than torture…It was tyrannizing.

One of them, a female chimp, was close enough that Pope could see her face. The look in her eyes was haunting.

Pope had seen what the eyes of a tortured person looked like. He saw it in Koba and Dolly when he first met them, he knew several other apes in the colony who had it, he himself had carried it. But the look in her eyes wasn't from years of cruel lab experiments and never knowing freedom. It was the look of a person who lost everything. An ape who lost all hope surrendered everything and has nothing left to live for.

The female must have sensed his gaze because she looked up at him and their eyes met. Her empty, grayish-blue eyes looking right through his golden ones. She would have been pretty if her face wasn't caked in mud, and her eyes weren't red and puffy from crying…How _long_ has she been crying?…

Her eyes became watery and she returned her gaze to the rock she was trying to pull out of the ground.

"What is it?" The words spilled out of his mouth before he could stop them.

She flinched as if Pope's voice was a weapon. She shook her head. _"I shouldn't speak to you."_ She signed without looking at him.

Pope raised an eyebrow at her. "Why?"

 _"_ _They'll make you suffer more. It's just easier to give in than fight them."_ She glanced over her shoulder. _"I need to go."_

"Wait a minute!" Pope wasn't about to let the first ape from here he spoke to go away so easily. The female gave him a pleading look, and he realized she may be risking her own life just by talking to him.

 _"_ _What's your name?"_ He asked.

To his surprise, the female looked confused. _"Name?"_ She asked as if it were the first time she ever heard of such a thing.

How long has she been in here? How could she have forgotten her own name?…Does she even have one?

 _"_ _Yes, name."_ Pope was beginning to realize he needed to explain it to her. _"Mine is Pope."_

She studied the ground, searching. Trying to remember. Then, she slowly brought her hand to her right cheek. She scratched the dirt and grime off her face, revealing a slightly darker patch of skin. It was a birthmark, the size of a pebble. She pointed at it.

"..D-..D-..Ot…" Her voice was shaky and hoarse as if she hadn't used it in a long time. "..Dot."

Dot. Pope let the name sink in his mind. The small name felt like it once belonged to someone happy and cheerful. Not like the ape who stood before him right now. Whoever Dot was before, she was now a ghost of her former self.

She turned around and left before he could say anything more. As she turned her back to him, Pope's eyes widened at the long, ugly scars that covered her back. It was almost as if she had no fur, just scars, and skin. _What happened to her?! And why was she so desperate to leave?_ he wondered. Pope glanced around, taking note of all the humans who stood guard. Some held guns, but most held whips and tasers. _Could they be the reason why?_

Pope's eyes wandered from the guards to the many other slaves that looked just as depressed as Dot...Though Dot had to have been the saddest ape he had ever met... _Wait a minute!_ He eyed each ape, their scars, the unspeakable loss in their eyes, the intense saddens.

 _These are apes who have nothing. They don't have faith in anyone. They have no reason to be loyal to Caesar._ If he could convince these apes that he could save them, that he could set them free, they'll become loyal to him and he'll have his own colony and army. Pope grinned as he imagined his colony going to war with Caesar's. First, they'll destroy the humans who imprisoned them, then they'll destroy any and all followers to Caesar unless they agree to follow him.

…And once all that is over, he'll eliminate the human race!

As pleased as Pope was with his scheme, he knew there were many holes in it. Firstly, the humans here obviously had all the power, power of life and death over all the apes. How could he destroy them without being killed himself?

Secondly, how could he convince Dot and the other slaves to follow him? These were apes who's lives were essentially ruined by these humans. Just by talking to her and seeing her, Pope knew Dot's mind was broken from whatever she was put through.

 _I'll talk to her every chance I get._ He decided. _I'll get her to trust me. To see me as a friend...If I meet any other slave, I'll do the same._

Pope was deep into his thoughts, that he barely noticed the elderly orangutan as she watched him. Even after he made up his mind about his plan, he didn't look her way. Instead, he found himself staring back at the slaves...And at Dot, who was now pushing a bolder with two other apes.

Their eyes met only once before she looked away.

* * *

The first shooter was confirmed dead. Tori had killed him, even if her actions shook her. The other, the one Foster batted, was still alive. His helmet had protected him from the blow. He was locked up in a cell in, what use to be, the police station. While Foster and Kempt were guarding him, the others were back in the building with the file room-only now, they were in a different room in the building.

Once everyone was back together, Blue Eye realized he and Ellie, Derek, Luca, Kempt, Foster, and Dreyfus were the only ones that weren't injured. Rocket's leg was crushed under some building debris that fell on him and Grey had narrowly escaped a bullet that went right through his ear, piercing it. Stone, meanwhile, had skinned his hand, trying to outrun the shooter.

Because of this more humans from the city and some of the female apes had to come to the building to help Ellie heal the wounded. Among them, were Tinker, Rocket's wife, and Ash's mother. Cedar, Grey's wife, and Cornelia herself.

Blue Eyes hardly got a chance to see his mother, they only saw each other once before she had to help a human get Malcolm's bleeding under control.

The hours were a blur of female apes and other humans running around, helping Tori, Malcolm, Rocket, Koba, Maurice, Grey, and Stone with their wounds, Derek and Dreyfus talking in another room, and Luca and Blue Eyes not knowing what to do. They eventually went outside the building, where it was calmer and much more quiet.

The sky was gray and the air was colder when Luca finally started telling Blue Eyes about the key from earlier. _"It belonged to a human named Will. He raised your father. We know because the key was the basement key from his house."_

 _"_ _My father was raised by humans?"_ The prince's eyes shined with wonder. That's why his father was so sympathetic to humans. That's why he wanted there to be peace between them and the apes. _"Why…Why didn't he ever tell me?"_ He asked.

 _"_ _I think he wanted to, but things just kept getting in the way...Hunting, your brother's birth, the humans,...All this."_ Luca had a sad look in his eyes as he signed, remembering when things were easier.

Blue Eyes looked down at the ground, trying not to cry. He wished none of this had ever happened. That his father and the others were never kidnapped. No, that he and Ash never found the humans. It feels like that moment was the start of all of this, that it's just been one thing after another with the humans ever since they found each other.

Maybe it was wrong to think that, but life was easier back then.

Luca placed a gentle hand on the prince's shoulder, prompting him to look up at him again. _"Blue Eyes...I know you don't think so, but you are more like your father than you think."_ He touched Blue Eyes chest, where his heart was." _You have his heart: you chose love over everything else. Those who you love the most, you protect."_ Then he touched the chimp's head. _"And you have his cleverness. You plan and think to solve problems. Even if you make mistakes, you always have a plan in mind."_

The gorilla's words surprised Blue Eyes, wasn't Maurice the wise one? Could Luca be wiser than he looks? Blue Eyes trembled, thinking about his father. _"But I'm not my father."_

Luca smiled at the prince. _"You don't need to be your father to be a good leader. You just need to be you."_

 _Be me?_ Blue Eyes never allowed himself to consider that. He had been so afraid of not being like his father, that he never thought about what he already was. It sounded risky though, what if something happens and no matter what he does, it'll just get worse? _But if I don't,_ Blue Eyes realized. _Then I'll never know._

Comforted by Luca's words, Blue Eyes gave a small smile. Which made the gorilla smile back.

Another hour passed before all their wounded friends were bandaged up. The humans returned to the city, while the female apes went back to the building everyone was now calling 'Ape Building'. Only Cornelia, Cedar and Tinker remained. When Blue Eyes saw his mother, finally able to properly see each other, they hugged. Tinker was with Rocket, holding his face in her hands. His leg was completely covered in a cast. Cedar was sitting with Grey, hugging him tightly.

Malcolm's arm was in a cast and Tori had a thick bandage on her own arm and another on her nose. Koba was laying on a couch, his head wrapped in bandages. The bonobo was still unconscious. Stone's left hand was engulfed in the same wrappings. Grey and Maurice were lucky, they just needed a single band-aid.

"We should take a break from this. Rocket and Malcolm won't be able to do much for weeks, and Koba needs rest. Ellie spoke once it was just the other healers were gone.

Dreyfus huffed. "A break? We don't have time for breaks!"

"But we need one!" Argued Ellie. "We can't just keep looking for these bad people while half of us are injured, they need to heal first!

Blue Eyes couldn't help but look around at his hurt friends. Grey, Maurice, Tori, and Stone had flesh wounds, theirs will heal the fasted. Malcolm and Rocket will need more time to fully recover, but Koba? The extent of his injury was still unknown.

Derek stepped in, his eyes gentle. "How about this We let the wounded heal for as long as they need. In the meantime, the rest of us can keep looking." He suggested.

Dreyfus glared at the slightly older human. Then at the apes. He glared at them as if he blamed them for all this somehow. Blue Eyes only frowned back at him, suddenly wishing Koba could tear the human to shreds.

"Fine.." He looked back at Derek. "But don't expect me to help _them_."

Ignoring her mayor, Ellie walked over to where Koba was and gently rested her ear on his chest. Listening for his heartbeat.

"Koba...Hurt bad?" Asked Stone, as he watched from where he sat.

Once Ellie found the heartbeat, she listened. Then wrote something in her notebook. "Since Koba is still unconscious, I can't say how bad his injuries are." She glanced up at Tori. "What hit his head, anyway?" She asked.

Tori had been silent for hours. Her eyes had stayed on Koba the entire time. It took a moment for her to register the question, and she answered in a small voice. "..Metal ceiling tile...It couldn't have been any heavier than my old English high school textbook.." The concern in her voice was unmistakable, though Blue Eyes could not understand why.

Ellie nodded and glanced at Koba, then back at the others. "Judging by how heavy that tile was, and how hard it hit his head, Koba could have a concussion. Worst case scenario would be brain damage."

"Will he be alright?" Asked Malcolm. He's been asking that question ever since he and the others got back. He asked every healer who worked on the others if they were alright but never asked the same about himself. He was more concerned about the wellbeing of Maurice, Grey, Stone, Rocket, Tori, and Koba than he was for his own.

"He'll live." Ellie's eyes held a sorry gaze at her husband and at the apes. "But I'm not sure if he'll be his old self."

His old self…Every word Koba had ever said to him suddenly came rushing into his mind. _Don't feel bad Blue Eyes. Scars make you strong…Must attack them Now! Before they attack us!…Human work…Human work..._ ** _Human work!_** _…_ Blue Eyes looked at Koba's still form on the couch. What would life be like if Koba wasn't Koba?… _Who_ would he be then?...

"Yeah, well sorry to spoil your pity party." Dreyfus sounded more annoyed than usual. "But we have some bad guys to stop, and we're wasting time worrying about a stupid animal."

Blue Eyes whirled around and growled at the human. If it wasn't for Cornelia holding his shoulder, he would have lunged at him.

Dreyfus pretended not to notice. "And I'd like to start by reading _his_ file." He pointed at Koba.

"You found his file?" Malcolm didn't think Koba even had one. It never occurred to him that one of the apes in the files could be among them. "You didn't read it, did you?" He asked.

"Not yet, but I plan to immediately," Said Dreyfus.

"No one's touching his file." Derek's voice was so stern, it sent shivers down all the backs who heard it. "Koba was very uncomfortable about his file being read. Now, I don't know what is in his file but we cannot read anything in it without his permission."

"Are you hearing yourself, Derek? He's an animal! He doesn't get to have a say in what we do with his file!"

Despite the rising tone in the other human's voice, Derek remained calm. "It doesn't matter, Dreyfus. If we are to work together with the apes, we need to establish trust between them-Koba included. Now, Koba obviously doesn't trust humans, and I fear that if we read his file without his consent, it'll just give him more reason to not trust us."

Dreyfus looked away from Derek in anger. He clearly wasn't going to let him read that stupid file. "Until Koba trusts us enough, none of us is to read his file, or his sister's." He looked at Malcolm, Ellie, and Tori. "And that goes for the rest of the apes. If we find any file that belongs to an ape from the Ape Colony, we cannot read them without their permission."

The humans agreed with him. Dreyfus grudgingly accepted as well. Though Blue Eyes hoped the files would be secured and put away somewhere so that the human couldn't get to them. It was decided then that Cornelia and Blue Eyes would go to the file room with Derek and Tori and the two humans would read them the names on the files. If the file belonged to an ape from the colony, then the file would be put aside for later if the ape gave permission for them to read it. Maurice offered to help out, which they accepted.

Just before they could leave to start, however, Tori suddenly spoke up. "I want to stay with Koba."

Everyone looked at her. What was she doing? Dreyfus walked over to her, fuming. "You're insane, Victoria! That monkey almost killed you! He killed your father! For all we know, he could be just as dangerous as the bad people!"

Though he would not use the same words as Dreyfus just did, Blue Eyes wondered the same thing. Just hours ago, Koba could have strangled Tori to death. Her neck now bore bruises that wrapped around the skin when his hands were. If Koba wasn't interrupted, he would have killed her, and Tori knew it just as well as the others did.

"Why the hell would you want to stay with him?!"

"Because I know his pain!"

Tori's words echoed throughout the building. Her voice was like a shout in the emptiness. Dreyfus froze, his anger melting into confusion. Ellie, Malcolm, and Derek just stared, unsure of what to do. All the apes watched with their own uncertainty.

Finally, Dreyfus spoke. "What..What pain? You weren't an animal experiment!"

"I didn't need to be! My father had no problem bringing his cruelty home!" Tori's eyes were so black, it was scary. It was like looking at a completely different human than the one that found Will's key. "If Koba truly did kill my father, then he got exactly what he deserved!"

Tori realized what she said. She came close to almost revealing the awful truth that was her childhood. She quickly tried to deflect her words. "Besides, Koba saved me from that metal tile! If it wasn't for him, I would be the one on the couch right now!"

Everyone was silent then, not a single noise from any of them. Tori's words repeated themselves in their minds. They all had questions, but no one dared to ask.

It felt like an eternity before Derek finally broke the uncomfortable stillness. "..Ok.." He glanced at Ellie. "Ellie, will you help?" He asked, being very careful not to ask Dreyfus.

Ellie nodded, knowing her husband and the injured apes would be fine without her.

 _"_ _Watch Tori. If Koba wakes up, don't let him do anything violent."_ Blue Eyes wasn't sure how to word it as he signed. But thankfully, Luca knew what the prince was saying and nodded in understanding.

"Screw it, I'm gonna go for a walk." Said Dreyfus. He walked out of the room before anyone could stop him. Seconds later, they all heard the door slam shut behind him.

Derek sighed but said nothing. He and Ellie, Cornelia, Maurice, and Blue Eyes then left the room to go to the file room. Leaving the others to themselves. Rocket and Tinker snuggled, Grey and Cedar talked, Stone and Malcolm decided to take a nap, and Luca stood guard at the door.

With everyone else occupied, Tori sat down next to the unconscious bonobo. It shocked her that this very ape had nearly killed her earlier that day and now was in this state. She just kept looking at Koba's face. At the bruise over his blind eye that she gave him, and at all the scars he already had.

 _What did my father do to make you like this?_ The question from earlier came back to her as she looked at him. Was her father the only one that filled him with hate? Or was this the result of years of cruelty from other humans?

She shivered. From cold, or from thinking about her father, she couldn't say. A thought crossed her mind, and she glanced at him.

 _My father has done terrible things._

Tori picked up one of the folded blankets that were in the corner (seriously, how did Derek get all this stuff?) and gently pulled the soft fabric up to the bonobo's neck. Effectively tucking him in.

 _But I'm not like him._

* * *

Dreyfus, in his rage, didn't notice where he was going. Frankly, he didn't care either, he just wanted to be away from those filthy animals and stupid people. Tori and Derek especially, their words made him the most angry.

 _Because I know his pain!_

What is that suppose to mean? That she actually cares about that ape?! Is she really that unrealistic?! Dreyfus had known Tori since she was eight years old, and she had proven herself to be nothing but trouble. He wouldn't say he hated her, but she definitely wasn't his favorite person.

And then there's Derek. What the hell is wrong with him? He's a former FBI profiler, not a goddamn monkey whisperer!

Dreyfus didn't realize he had found his way to the warehouse until he smelled something. A smell, that he knew all too well.

Decay.

Fully expecting to find another corpse like the one from earlier, he looked around. What he found instead were the bodies of Terry and McVeigh. They were laying on piles of sacks, fashioned into a sort of couch. Judging by the decomposition of their bodies, they may have been dead for less than two days.

Upon closer inspection, Dreyfus realized they were both shots several times in the chest. Who did this? One of the shooters they stopped today? Were they killed during the kidnappings?

.. _Or was it..?_

Dreyfus didn't think twice when he reached inside Terry and pulled out one of the bullets. He didn't consider telling Derek about the deaths as he started to search for Werner and Finney. His actions were based on a possibility he could not ignore. If it were true than he'd have enough proof to get rid of the apes, to prove that they could not be trusted.

Dreyfus knew his next destination after speaking to Werner and Finney, was the Ape Village.

* * *

 **A's/N: That may have been the longest chapter I ever written for this story...And I'm making it longer by adding my notes in it..XD**

 **I know, the attack with the bulldozer and wrecking ball was probably less than accurate..Best not to try it in real life though! Sorry if the fight between Koba and Tori and the bad guys felt bland, I'm not good at writing action/fighting scenes. XD**

 **Anyone wanna guess who they think the bad guys are? I just gave you guys two hints (three if you count the Mr. Clean helmet!). =D**

 **We also got to meet Dot! I hope you guys like her, she's pretty important-I also hope that I described Pope right, I haven't read any of the comics, so much of what I know of him comes from the Planet of The Apes fandom wiki. If I made any mistakes with him (such as his eye color. His eyes look orange or golden in his picture, but I could be wrong), please let me know so I can fix them!**

 **So it looks like Tori has her own bad memories of her father...She and Koba have a lot to take about.**

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


	7. Naps

**A's/N: Had some trouble deciding what to call this chapter, so I just went with 'Naps'. XD**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

The door swung open and the humans practically threw Caesar, Dolly, and Ash in the cell. Startling Pope out of his scheming thoughts. The guards didn't even so much as look his way before they shut the door and locked it behind them. Once he knew they were gone, for now, Pope glanced at the three apes-and could hardly believe what he was seeing!

Ash had both of his hands on the sides of his head, screaming and crying. He was convulsing, eyes shut tightly and repeatedly saying 'no' in a desperate, pleading whimper.

Dolly was hugging herself. Her body rocking slowly, lightly hitting the wall behind her. Her eyes were wide open, so wide, that Pope swore it looked as if they'd fall from their sockets and roll off her face at any moment.

Caesar's state was the worst out of the three. He stared straight ahead, but his eyes were unfocused. It was like the gaze of a corpse.

All three had red, burn marks on the skin on their temples and marks in their fur that Pope knew all too well. They had been restrained, by leather straps or by hard rope? He couldn't say for sure. Pope recognized the burn marks, and he shuddered at the memory of what they meant.

He didn't know what to do. Should he be satisfied at Caesar's suffering? That Ash now knows how powerless they are? That Dolly finally see's how weak Caesar is? Or should he be concern for them? If not for Caesar and Dolly, then at least for Ash. Even if he followed Caesar, Ash was still just a boy. Born in the Muir Woods, and never knowing torture at the hands of humans until today.

"G-Guys?" He slowly approached the three of them. Caesar didn't move, he didn't even flinch when Pope got close to him. If it wasn't for his chest rising and falling, the scarred chimp would have thought the Ape King were dead. Then, his eyes rolled back into his head.

Realizing Caesar wasn't going to answer him, Pope turned to Dolly. He hesitated before placing his hands on her shoulders. "Dolly? What. Happened. To you?"

Dolly didn't answer. She shook her head, closing her eyes. "..Ka…Ko…Ba.." Her voice was so small that Pope almost didn't hear her. "..Koba…Want...Koba.." The tone in her voice made him feel a sudden wave of anger and fear.

Pope had known Koba and Dolly for ten winters, and during that time, he had never seen Dolly like this. While Koba allowed his anger to run freely, Dolly never expressed her own and the only times she ever shed tears was whenever she had a nightmare about the past and when her former mate, Ishmael, rejected her after they realized she was unable to have children. Compared to her brother's anger issues, Pope always saw Dolly as the stronger one in terms of emotion control.

But the humans…Whatever they did to her, they obviously destroyed that control. Pope momentarily glanced at the locked door. How could they take someone as strong as Dolly and reduce her to this?...What _else_ can they do? He turned back to Dolly.

"Koba. Not here." He tried to make his voice calming, something she can hang on to. "Your brother. Is safe. At home. Away from these humans."

But Dolly was still not hearing him. She continued to keep saying Koba's name. Pope finally gave up and looked at Ash. The poor teenager had calmed his cries to whimpers and had stopped shaking. When the older chimp reached out and lightly touched his shoulder, Ash gasped and recoiled as if he were burned. He looked up at Pope, his eyes filled with tears.

"Did…My father…Really…Try to…Kill me?"

What? It took Pope a moment to comprehend what the teen was asking. "No." Too surprised to use his voice, Pope began to use sign language instead. _"Why do you think that?"_

Ash pointed to his head. _"I remember."_

Pope's stomach sunk. He had just as less respect for Rocket as he did for Caesar, but Pope knew the grey chimp would slay any foe to protect his only son. He wouldn't even let Ash go out in the forest on his own, let alone try to kill him himself. In fact, when Ash was a baby, Rocket use to take him to the council meetings with him.

Why would Ash suddenly claim that his father, who loved him with all his heart, tried to kill him?

Pope once again glanced at the door, this time with an angry glare and a new kind of fear. _What are they trying to do?_ Pope now realized that if he was going to rebel against these humans and convince the enslaved apes to join him, then he could be risking much more than just his life.

 _It's just easier to give in than to fight them._ Dot's words repeated themselves in his mind. Was this what she meant?

 _What kind of humans am I dealing with here?_

* * *

Going through the files turned out to be easier than Blue Eyes thought. In just one hour, they were able to get through thirty-something names and find more than half of the members from the ape colony. When they found her file, Cornelia immediately gave the humans full permission to read it. If something inside her file could help them find Caesar, she wanted them to look. Maurice did the same as well.

They had just finished sorting all the ape files when Malcolm stumbled inside the room, surprising them. "You should be resting." Said Ellie, looking at him with concern.

Malcolm shook his head. "I can't sleep, too much has happened today for me to rest." He nodded at the table. "How far have you guys gotten?"

While Ellie and Derek updated Malcolm, the three apes signed to each other-mostly Maurice and Cornelia though, Blue Eyes was looking at the pictures in each file. He wondered what happened to these apes if any of them were still alive. If they were, would his father see them? Would they join the colony if they could? Blue Eyes felt knots forming in his stomach when he found the pictures of the two youngest apes to have been kidnapped. A male bonobo who was only a year old, and another one who was almost the exact same age as Blue Eyes himself was. _What do they do to the children?_

Then, he found it. The picture of the bonobo he saw the previous day. Derek had told them that his name was Carlos and that he was one of the last known apes to have been kidnapped. Looking at his picture more closely, Blue Eyes took note of the male's features: Big ears that stuck out, a small nose, a gaunt face, black fur and hair, and, the most noticeable of them all, the eyes. They were green like frost-covered grass.

 _Why do I keep coming back to this ape?_ There were several other apes that were kidnapped, chimps, orangutans, even gorillas. But there was something about Carlos that Blue Eyes couldn't stop thinking about and he could not understand why. Carlos didn't seem intimidating, at least not in the picture, but his eyes held this...Indifference in them... _What caused that?_

Blue Eyes blinked, stunned. _Why am I worrying about an ape who I never even met?!_ He closed the file and shook his head to help clear his mind.

Just then, Tori appeared. Her hair was a mess, falling out of her ponytails and floating freely about her neck. She was rubbing her right eye tiredly, had she been sleeping? "Ellie, I think Koba is waking up."

"Ok, I'm coming." Ellie glanced at Malcolm. "Would you be ok, here?" She asked.

"Yes, of course." Said, Malcolm.

"Good. I'll be back." With that, Ellie followed Tori out of the room. As they did, Blue Eyes rubbed his face. Yawning quietly. A rough night, an early morning, a dead body and a massive fight with humans machines had finally took its toll on the young prince.

 _I could use a nap myself._

* * *

Koba groaned as he woke up. The pounding headache made it hard to open his eyes at first, but it didn't last long. As soon as the pain settled down somewhat, Koba realized something was on top of him. When he looked down, he saw a large, silvery cloth over him. It was soft and warmed by his own body. Koba knew what this was. He rarely had one of his own, and if he did then never for long, but he knew what a blanket was.

He had mixed feelings about them. While Koba loved the warmth a blanket gave and the safety it promised, they always reminded him of- _NO!_ Koba banished all thoughts of his mother from his head. He didn't want her in his mind, not in front of the other apes and the humans. Sometimes it was easier to forget he ever had a mother than to remember how he lost her…And that she loved him and Dolly...

"Koba?"

Koba snarled when he saw Ellie and Tori. Yet, Ellie didn't seem afraid of him at all. She just sat down on the floor next to the couch the bonobo laid, and held up her hand. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Did she really just asked that? "Three." Koba was no stranger to the torment the humans called 'tests' but this was weird.

Ellie put her hand down. "Do you remember anything?" She asked.

What a dumb question! Koba was tempted to lunge at her, but couldn't find any good reason to other than his own annoyance…And, he realized, he simply didn't want to leave the comfort of the couch and blanket... "Everything." Despite being hit in the head by a falling metal ceiling tile, Koba remembered everything that happened. Right down to the moment he woke up that morning.

Then, much to his dislike, Ellie walked closer to him and began to feel his head. Koba stiffened but didn't make any attempt to stop her.

Ellie carefully touched around the area where the tile had hit the bonobo. From what she remembered, Koba didn't have any open wounds on his head. Just several bruises that she wrapped in bandages for protection. "Ok, I think you'll be alright." She said as soon as she was finished. "You should rest for a while, let yourself heal."

"Human. Not. The boss. Of me." Koba growled in reply. Even though he was _slightly_ relieved he could lay around for now.

Ignoring the ape's insolence, Ellie got up and started to go back to the file room. "Are you coming?" She asked Tori.

"No, I'll stay." Said Tori.

 _Great, now I have to be in the same room as her._

Ellie looked from Tori to Koba, then back. She was suddenly beginning to become suspicious of the younger human. Not of Tori herself, but of her background. Particularly her relationship with her father. Ellie was starting to wonder if Koba, and other apes like him and his sister, were truly the only victims of Steven Jacobs cruelty.

"Alright." With that, she left.

Tori returned to her spot on the floor-which was basically an empty space next to the couch that had a blanket on it. Koba glared at her as she made her way over to where she had been sleeping at. If she noticed, she gave no indication.

She didn't say a single word until she was on the floor. "I'm just going to take a nap." She said flatly. "If you still want to kill me, at least wait until you've healed."

"You. Better. Watch. Your back." Koba snarled. Truthfully, if Koba wasn't so tired, he'd probably be strangling her again right now. At least, that's what he'd like to think. But now...He still wanted to kill her, but half of him didn't want to anymore...

"Sweet dreams to you too, Smiles." Tori pulled her blanket around herself, her eyes still on the scarred bonobo. "..By the way...Thank you...For pushing me out of the way.." Her voice was softer as if she wasn't sure how to say it.

Koba blinked. That's right...He _did_ protect her from that...Why did he do that anyway? At a loss of what to say next, he simply muttered: "Whatever." and rolled over on his side. Pulling the blanket over his head. Hoping that sleep would be better than reality.

Koba didn't hear Tori whisper to herself: "And for saving my life." as she too laid down to fall back to sleep.

Everyone else in the room were asleep as well, too tired from the day's battle to do much else. The only ones who were awake were Luca, who was guarding the door, and Grey and Cedar. The two chimps were silently snuggling. Cedar resting her head on the male's shoulder as he leaned against the wall.

 _"_ _I told you to be careful."_ She signed to him.

 _"_ _And I told you that I'd try."_ For as long as they had been married, Grey made a point to keep his promises to Cedar. He may not have felt loyal to Caesar, but he always kept his word to his wife. When he told Cedar that he'd return to her in one piece, he fully intended to do so.

Cedar looked up at her husband, their eyes met. _"Grey...I know you're a council member..And I know you have responsibilities…But do they have to involve you getting hurt?"_

Grey knew this was coming. He knew it the second he first told Cedar that he would be assisting the search for Caesar and the others. Maybe not at that exact moment, but sometime in between then and later…Well, later has become now. _"What happened today was just a random attack-"_

 _"_ _You could have been hurt!"_

 _"_ _All I got was a pierced ear!"_

 _"_ _It could have been worse! You could have gotten a broken leg like Rocket! Or a bad head wound like Koba!"_

 _"_ _But I didn't!"_ If others weren't napping all around them, he and his wife would have been shouting at each other. _"Cedar, I'm sorry I scared you. But sometimes, I just can't control what happens to me."_

Cedar only frowned, glaring angrily at her husband. But, despite her anger, her eyes were filling with tears. _"..Grey...I don't want to lose you…If..If looking for these bad humans means risking your life, then…Then I want you to stop."_

Grey's eyes widened when he heard that. Cedar had been concerned for his safety before, but never like this. Not even that one time a bear bit him in the shoulder. _"You want me to leave the council?!"_

 _"_ _No. Not the council."_ Her eyes were pleading with him, it was almost painful to look at. _"The searching...All this...Just leave it all while you're still alive...Before...Before.."_

"Before what?" Grey whispered, seeing that Cedar was becoming too emotional to sign.

Cedar took a breath, trying to calm herself down. She looked at Grey with enough sadness and concern to make the world lose its colors. This wasn't how she wanted to tell him but she feared that if she didn't, she'll never get to again.

In a whisper, she answered. "Before...Our child...Is born...Without you."

* * *

Dreyfus! Wait up!" Finney called as he hurried to catch up to the mayor. Seriously, how can he move so fast?!

Dreyfus paid no mind to him. As soon as they had parked their car, he was determined to find Malcolm's group camp. It wasn't hard, they found the tents almost as soon as they arrived.

"What are looking for, exactly?" Asked Werner.

"Guns. I want to see if they had any."

Werner raised his eyebrows. "Dreyfus, Malcolm said that the apes took all their guns and destroyed them. How could they still have guns?"

Dreyfus was close to losing it. Werner's constant questions was getting on his nerves. "I just want to look, ok?!"

Finney had finally caught up with the two of them. All that running had left him out of breath. "Where-Where do we look first?" He asked, huffing.

"Everywhere." With that, Dreyfus began searching through each of the tents. Finney and Werner followed his example and searched around as well. They found leftover food, unused water, some supplies that was most likely used to fix the dam, and one of Alex's books. The camp itself didn't look suspicious at all. In fact, if Dreyfus hadn't known any better, even he would have thought it was someones outdoor vacation site. Nothing looked out of place at all.

That is, until...

"Dreyfus! Finney!" Werner's shocked voice came from a good twenty feet away from the tents. When the two other men rushed over, they found Werner staring down at the dead body of Carver.

Dreyfus stared at the younger man's body in disbelief. Though the blood was dried, and flies were flying around his body, it looked like Carver had died around the same time ad, McVeigh, and Terry. But unlike the other two, there weren't any bullet holes in his body. Indicating a different cause of death.

"He was beaten to death." Said Finney, eyeing the blood coming out of Carver's nose. "Not by a human, I don't think."

"How do we know it was an ape though?" Asked Werner.

"By these." Dreyfus picked up something that Carver held in his lifeless grasp. Three or four strands of hair. Long, black hair. Dreyfus sniffed them, just to be sure. Then pulled away. "Smells like pine, an ape definitely did this."

"Why are you so hellbent on blaming the apes for this?" Asked Werner.

"Because, Dummy, they're dangerous! One of them confessed to killing Victoria Jacobs father!" Dreyfus didn't mean to bring up that idiotic girl in the conversation, but her father's murder was still valid. "If even just one ape murdered a human, how many other apes have killed humans?!"

"Dreyfus, I don't think Carver was killed in cold blood." Werner was not going to let it go. "We all know Carver, he was an asshole. He probably just pissed off the wrong person and it happened to be an ape."

"Don't tell me you're actually defending them!"

"I'm not! I'm just saying that Carver probably asked for it."

Dreyfus rolled his eyes, frustrated and annoyed at them. "It isn't about Carver. Or McVeigh and Terry. It's about keeping the human race safe, and if that means getting rid of the apes than so be it!"

With that, Dreyfus headed into the direction of the ape village. Werner and Finney reluctantly followed. What Dreyfus didn't tell the two of them was how angry he was at Derek for treating the apes as if they were equal to humans. How could he do that?! The apes are nothing more than a bunch of stupid animals who are under the delusion that they are better than humans. Bunch of arrogant monkeys. On top of all that, Derek is actually trusting the apes. How dare he do that! Can't he see that the apes can't be trusted?

 _I'll show you, Derek. I'm going to prove to you that those animals aren't worth anything!_

Finally, they reached the ape's village. The smell of burnt wood and smoke burned his nose as Dreyfus entered. He had to admit, the apes made an impressive home: sturdy structure, lots of space, plenty of places for an ape to call their own...Was that a school setting over there?

The more he explored, the more frightening the apes became. Somehow, those crazy animals have successfully built their own society, and it mirrored the humans own. They had created their own world.

Dreyfus had just finished exploring the big tree, which he assumed was Caesar's quarters when something shiny flashed. Catching his eye. _What is that?_

Werner and Finney were preoccupied with the village itself. Werner occasionally saying 'amazing' under his breath, while Finney touched and ran his hand on every surface he could find. Neither of the two noticed Dreyfus make his way down from the high tree and walk over to what he had found.

The second he saw it, Dreyfus knew he struck gold. What he saw in front of him could prove he was right. It could convince all the humans that the apes were not to be trusted. He squat down and picked up the evidence with a careful hand. He smirked as he held it.

The M4A1 assault rifle in his hand was the exact kind of guns the warehouse had.

* * *

The gun felt strange in Red's hands. Just the way his hands had to twist and wrap around it in order to hold it was weird. When he looked at Winter, he knew the white gorilla felt the same. The humans said nothing when they took them out of the stables. They separated the two older gorillas from Pinto, so neither of them knew where the child was. They could only hope he wasn't harmed.

"What's the matter with them?" One guard asked.

"New recruits. Ya know how it is." Said the other.

New recruits? Is that what they see them as? New recruits to a war they never even wanted to be a part of? Red wished he could shoot these humans right then and there but the fear of what could become of Winter and Pinto if he were killed held him back. He rubbed his eye with his free hand. Sleeping was nonexistent that night. With Winter's constant nightmares and Pinto missing his parents and crying himself to sleep, Red was surprised he had any sleep at all.

 _"_ _What are they gonna do?"_ Winter asked. For the first time, Red didn't mind the fear in Winter's face.

 _"_ _I don't know."_ He answered. Red remembered what Tanoddah had told him. About how these humans forced Cooper to kill his own siblings. _Is that what they're going to do?_ Red didn't like Winter, but he'd never dream of killing him…What about Pinto?...Would he or Winter be forced to kill the younger gorilla?

The guard snapped his fingers, getting their attention. "You two, shoot at the target!" He spoke and signed at the same time.

The target the human was pointing at was a big, white rectangle with a human form outlined on it. It was used, evident by the many bullet holes in it.

Red looked down at the gun, remembering how the humans used them. Carefully, using nothing but memory for guidance, he wrapped his fingers around the trigger, held the gun in both hands, took aim…And…

 ** _BOOM!_**

The single bullet ripped through the air with a jolt. It hit the human outline, right where the head was. _I hope that's good enough_

The guard patted him on the shoulder, startling Red. "Almost perfect." He then turned to Winter. "Now, you."

Winter gulped, he looked down at the gun with wide eyes. _Could he even do it?_ Red had never known Winter to be afraid of loud noises, but it suddenly seemed possible. Could it be the gun itself? Even if it wasn't in use, guns weren't exactly the most comforting thing to look at.

The white gorilla glanced at the guard, then at Red. "Now!" The guard yelled, losing his patience. The human raised a whip in his hand, ready to whack the gorilla if necessary.

Now scared, and gulping down his own whimpers, Winter held the gun in both hands. He took aim, but couldn't point the gun at the target because of his shaking.

Then, right at that second, a scream rang throughout the shooting range. Red didn't think, he turned his head faster than he could blink. The sight he saw behind him was more frightening than any gun.

Pinto was being chased by another gorilla. This one was much bigger compared to the small boy and was far too strong for him to fight. The guards that followed did nothing to help the child, they only encouraged the bigger gorilla to attack. But the worst part? The gorilla himself was a nightmare himself. His mouth opened and drooling something white and foamy, his eyes huge and were as red as eyeballs could be.

The gorilla…Looked like a monster..!

"Pinto!" Red dropped the gun without knowing it. He ran towards the two gorillas, shoving the crazed ape out of the way and scooping Pinto up in his arms. With the little one on him, he ran from the gorilla. Desperately trying to get away from him.

The gorilla didn't seem to notice that he was now chasing an older ape, he just kept chasing after them. Barring his ugly, rotting teeth. He successfully strikes Red on his back, causing the gorilla to stumble and hit the fenced wall that held the slaves in. He didn't look up, he knew that gorilla was charging at him.

 _Protect Pinto._ Red couldn't tell if it was Caesar's voice that spoke them or his own thoughts. But in that moment, Red suddenly didn't care if he died. All his thoughts were suddenly focused on protecting the boy.

Red held Pinto close to him, using his own body to protect him. He'll probably die, but he'll at least give Pinto a chance to survive.

He shut his eyes, waiting for the bow that will kill him.

 ** _BOOM!_**

Red snapped his eyes open and turned around just in time to see the other gorilla fall to the ground. Bleeding horribly from the neck. If he's not dead now, he will be very soon.

Winter stood there, gun in hand. He dropped the firearm, fear overwhelming him. Guards surrounded him. He struggled against them, but they overpowered him and in seconds, he was on the ground. Red, shaking from adrenaline, could do nothing but keep Pinto in his arms and look away from the scene.

But nothing he did could keep them from hearing Winter's pained screams.

* * *

 **A's/N: Little bit shorter than usual...Oh well. XD**

 **So I have TWO announcements for you guys! First one is I have an account on DeviantArt that's purely for artwork for my stories (this one included!). I love writing fanfiction, but fanart is my absolute favorite thing to do too and the closest thing to doing fan art on Fan Fiction is making a cover for the story (which I'm currently trying to do ). So if anyone wants to look for me on DA, there's a link in my profile (my DA name is the same as my FF name: MackDreamer).**

 **Secondly! I officially have THREE other Planet of The Apes story ideas and I'd like to share them with you guys.**

 **The first one is a CaesarxKoba story (currently untitled) and it's basically an alternative plot for Dawn, only Cornelia dies early on in the story and Koba has an adoptive child. Some parts of the original plot for Dawn is also broken up and put back together differently than in the movie, so don't be surprised if you see that if I do that story.**

 **The second one is currently called 'Dawn of the Idiots'. Basically, a total parody of Dawn: all the characters completely transformed into funny stupid-heads but still having some of their original characteristics. If I write this story, beware of extreme stupidity, serious events becoming humorous, and lots of character change (for example: Caesar, Blue Eyes, Koba, Malcolm, and Dreyfus do become more humorous than usual, but their personalities still remain-It's Carver and many others you really need to watch out for).**

 **And the last one is actually based on the original Planet of The Apes movies. It's not really a story, just a series of one-shots about the events in each movie-only in the point of view of Zira's younger adoptive sister...Yeah, that one is probably more OC based than any of my other stories.**

 **None of these stories follow Before the Storm, their all their own stories. The only OC in the CaesarxKoba story is Koba's adopted child, and the rest of my OC's don't exist. Same with the one-shot story too, and there aren't any OC's in Dawn of the Idiots (I could add some, but I feel like they're not needed).**

 **That's all for now, please tell me what you think! I'll start the next chapter as soon as I can!**

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


	8. Vulnerability

**A's/N: It's midnight as I submit this, so I'll make the note's quick! XD I know I usually answer the reviews from the previous chapter but this time I was unable to because of Thanksgiving... So I'll answer them later tomorrow (which is technically today but still!).**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"So let me get this straight." Derek and Dreyfus were now in a different building, the one where Dreyfus often held town meetings in. At the mayor's insistence, it was just the two of them. "You went to the ape village and searched it, without a warrant, and obtained illegal evidence?"

Dreyfus scoffed at his question. "Derek, they're apes. Who cares if the evidence against them is legal or not?"

"I do.' Derek now regretted letting him leave by himself. He should have told Dreyfus to go to Kempt and Foster and interrogate the soldier they captured. "Dreyfus, you can't build a case against a person based on the evidence you got from a search without a warrant. It's against the law."

"The law doesn't apply to apes! They don't have rights! And what do you know about laws, you're an FBI profiler!"

"I chose to be an FBI profiler for personal reasons." These were the words Derek always said when talking about his past. Never adding any details, and keeping the rest to himself. He had decided long ago that he'll only reveal the truth about his career choice to people he trusted the most. So far, he hasn't found such people yet. "I may not have been a lawyer, but I did go to law school. I could have been a lawyer if I wanted to, but I didn't." He got closer to Dreyfus, so close that he could almost smell his breath. "And as long as I'm here, apes will be treated as equals."

With that, the slightly older man began to make his way out of the building, but then turned around and looked at Dreyfus one last time. "I know you don't trust the apes, Dreyfus. I can't force you to and I won't. But please understand, they may be all we have." Then he left, leaving Dreyfus with his thoughts.

Dreyfus, defeated, slammed his fist on his desk. He should have known Derek would say something like that. But he knew, deep down, the other human was right...In his eagerness to prove how untrustworthy the apes truly were, he had forgotten to pay attention to the evidence. Despite his belief, he didn't find any proof that Terry and McVeigh were killed by an ape. Or that their deaths were related to Carver's. In fact, it was entirely possible that they were killed by the soldiers during the night of the kidnapping.

Meanwhile, Carver had attacked and threatened to hurt Blue Eyes and his baby brother. Opening the possibility that Carver himself may have been the cause of his own death.

 _Accidental death from self-defense…Shit!..._ Even if Dreyfus had successfully proven an ape had killed him, at this point, the ape could be charged with manslaughter rather than first-degree murder.

Now that he realized it, be probably won't even be able to use the gun he found at the ape village as evidence either. Not only did he search the village without a warrant, but he didn't even have probable cause to get a warrant anyway. Not even Terry and McVeigh's murders were enough to justify the search.

 _What do I have then?_ Dreyfus pulled out a notebook that was laying on the floor-it was old, the notes on it long forgotten and no longer important, but it'll do. He flipped through the yellowing pages until he found a blank page and picked up a pen. He then began to write on it:

Carver's death

Ape hair in Carver's hand

Terry & McVeigh's deaths

Gun at ape village

He crossed out the gun, leaving the deaths and the hair. What if? He put the notebook down and reached into his pocket, pulling out the ape hair. He then looked at them under a lamp and magnifying glass.

 _Black…Which apes have black fur?_

Dreyfus knew for sure that it wasn't an orangutan that killed Carver, otherwise, the hair would have been orange. Chimps where mostly brown, but some looked darker. Almost all of the gorillas had black fur...

"..Damn.," Dreyfus muttered in surprised realization. He's looking for an adult ape with black fur…He had just described nearly half of the ape colony... _This may be harder than I thought._

* * *

Grey was surprised by how peaceful the city looked at night. It was as if the dark purples and blue hues in the sky had pulled a sort of blanket of its own over the ruined and near-empty city. It didn't look creepy, or gloomy. Just asleep, almost comforting.

He was now sitting by himself on the roof of the building where the file room was. His eyes gazing down at everything, but his mind deep in his thoughts. _Why didn't Cedar tell me she was pregnant earlier?_ He wondered. Cedar's abdomen had a small bump, but not too big so she couldn't be that far in the pregnancy. He wasn't angry with her though, it's not her fault things just kept happening and getting in the way. He truly was happy that he'd be a father.

Throughout their marriage, Grey and Cedar had talked about having children and starting a family of their own but when they tried, nothing happened and when they didn't try, they kept getting busy with other things. And now, they'll finally have a child, but Grey wondered if the world was even safe enough for new life. But that doesn't matter, he'd protect his wife and child with his own life. He won't let anyone, human or ape, hurt them.

 _But what about Caesar?...And all the others?_

Grey's stomach sank, he felt sick as he realized the full extent over the choices his wife had given him. Abandon the council, stop participating in the search for the kidnapped apes, and stay with her and be a part of their first child's life. Maybe even have more someday. Or stay and try to save the lives of his fellow apes and of the humans while risking his own.

In that moment, he could suddenly picture all of the apes that had been kidnapped. Not just their faces, but memories of them as well. Winter and all his fearfulness, Red and his strength, Pope's fish net scars, Dolly's gentle eyes, Lake's childlike energy, Pinto's smile, Pepper's curiousness, Ash's playfulness, Lucky's calls, Andy's laughs and Caesar's voice. Do they really deserve to die? Sure Grey was helping Koba try to kill Caesar, but all he was going to do was shoot him-not destroy and mangle his body.

Grey still disliked Caesar. Even now, even though the Ape King is gone, he still felt as much distrust toward him as he did the day he was kidnapped. But Grey didn't want the others to die, and even if he didn't like Caesar, he'd gladly save him if it meant the other apes could be saved too.

But was Caesar's life really worth his own? Does Caesar returning home alive matter more than Grey meeting his child?

A soft, throaty purr reached his ears and he turned around to see Maurice standing there. The orangutan looked like himself, despite the bandaged bullet wound on his head. He smiled at the chimp. _"How's your ear, Grey?"_

To this, Grey smiled. Out of all the apes in the council, Maurice had to be Grey's favorite to talk to. _"Better, thanks. How's your wound?"_

 _"_ _Also better."_ Maurice could sense the worry in Grey's eyes. _"What's wrong?"_

Grey hesitated but decided to tell him anyway. Maurice was like everyone's secret keeper: any of the apes could tell him all their troubles, and he'll never speak a word of them to anyone else. _"It's Cedar, she's pregnant."_

Maurice hooted happily. _"That is wonderful news, my friend!"_

 _"_ _It is."_ Grey felt a wave of happiness right then. It was one thing for Cedar to tell him, but something else for him to tell someone else. _"But Cedar is worried about me. She doesn't want me to get hurt or..You know...Killed...She want's me to leave the council."_

He didn't know what to expect from the orangutan but when Maurice began signing again, he read them carefully. _"You were wounded today and we're dealing with dangerous humans. She's right to be concern for you."_

 _"_ _But what do I do?"_ Grey asked. _"I don't want to leave you all to deal with the bad humans alone, but I don't want to let Cedar down either."_

 _"_ _Just chose what's the most important to you."_ Said, Maurice.

Grey blinked. Surprised by the simple answer to his hard problem. He looked down at the ground, thinking about Cedar and the child she carried. They mattered, they were his everything. Just knowing that he'll be a father filled him with a happiness that Grey had only seen on those who already had children. He didn't care if he'd have a son or a daughter, he loved his unborn child all the same.

Finally, he looked back up at the orangutan. _"My family."_ He decided. The second thoughts raced through his mind almost the second he made the choice. _"But what about you? And Stone? And Koba? And all the others?"_

 _"_ _We'll be fine."_ Maurice smiled at him. _"We have humans to help us."_

 _"_ _Can we even trust them though? What if they turn against us?"_ Grey still felt some distrust towards the humans. He doubted any of them would hurt an ape and leave them like the ape from the dead body they found earlier, but still.

Maurice motioned to the buildings ahead of them. _"We have our differences with the humans and we may not like each other that much. But today, when the bad humans attacked with their machines, we put all that aside and worked together to stop them. Even Koba and Tori stopped fighting to help."_

 _"_ _How could that mean anything?"_

 _"_ _Grey, Koba saved Tori from that metal ceiling tile and Foster saved them, Blue Eyes and I from the solider. An ape saving a human, and a human saving apes. That has to amount to something."_

Grey let those words sink in as he looked at the buildings. Even from this distance, he could almost see the buildings that were destroyed. The colony could have been killed today if it wasn't for them teaming up with the humans. His Cedar would have died without ever telling him about her pregnancy. Blue Eyes could have lost his mother and brother, which would have ruined the poor prince. Rocket's own wife, Tinker, could have been killed. And then there was the rest of the apes and all the other humans...

..All of their deaths were prevented by the apes and the humans working together...

Grey glanced back at Maurice. _"..It's funny but now...I think I'm finally beginning to understand what Caesar see's in humans.."_

* * *

By the time Winter and Pinto finally stopped crying and fell asleep, Red's fur was drenched in their tears and he felt exhausted himself. The wounds on Winter's back were ugly, the skin scorched in first and second-degree burns and the fur missing. Red kept his hand as far away from the angry wounds as he could, knowing that one touch could hurt the other gorilla.

Pinto's arms were wrapped tightly around his neck. The little ape was holding on to him so tightly, that Red didn't let go of him even after he fell asleep.

As the two of them snuggled on him, Red tried to comprehend what had happened just hours ago. That gorilla that Winter killed was deranged, but why? What did the humans do to make him like that? And as punishment for killing him, the humans branded Winter. _Why didn't they do it to me? I'm the one that left the gun to protect Pinto._ Red had expected to be branded like Winter, but the humans did nothing to him.

All the other gorillas in the stables were asleep, some snored softly and others appeared to be muttering in their sleep. Some were tossing and turning in their sleep, possibly from dreams. Red knew Tanoddah was probably asleep as well. He wished she wasn't, maybe she'd know why he was spared.

A sudden realization washed over Red. The humans didn't hurt him...They hurt Winter, but not him..Why?...

The memory of what Tanoddah told him about what Cooper had been put through suddenly seemed hauntingly real. An ape forced to kill the very people he was closest to…The very people who could...

Red glanced at Pinto. His eyes wide with horror.

 _I need to get Pinto out of here._ He thought. _Before they kill him...By their own guns, or by..My own hands..!_

* * *

Over the next few days, Koba noticed an odd pattern with Tori. Each morning, she'd get up and leave and would only return sometime later, during the afternoon. Every time, the salty smell would be stronger on her skin. They didn't speak to each other, with Tori barely around it was easy to avoid her and when she was at the building, Koba made a point to not be around her.

Koba had liked being on the couch the first day but after a while, his body ached from falling asleep and the blanket became to hot for him to hide in. It was sometime the second day that he finally pulled himself out of the couch and walked around-Ellie, of course, didn't like it but decided that as long as Koba didn't do anything crazy and stayed in the building, he would be fine.

Most of the time, Koba wandered aimlessly in the building. He had explored the entire first floor, and was halfway through the second in just a day or so. Koba was surprised to see that not all the rooms were completely empty. There was one that looked like a complete bedroom, another that was filled to the ceiling with shelves of books on every wall, and a couple others that were just filled with stuff.

A good three days had passed by the time Koba was finally allowed to leave the building, and he was relieved he could be outside again. However, as he was about to leave, he saw Tori running off again. Carrying the duffel bag she always had with her as she went. She didn't see the scarred bonobo watching her from the window.

Koba narrowed his eyes at her. _Where does she go?_

Up until now, Koba kept away from Tori so he wouldn't be reminded of how he got injured in the first place. That metal tile that fell on him could have hurt Tori, but he took it for her. Why? Why did he save the daughter of the man that made him suffer so much?

He also didn't want to deal with the fact that he saw something in her that he had known for most of his life.

Koba looked over his shoulder before he left the building. Rocket was still recovering from his broken leg, he was fast asleep on the couch that he'd been on since day one. Luca, still on guard at the doorway, may have fallen asleep himself. Most of the humans were either tending to the wounded or were in the file room. Derek and Dreyfus had recruited some of the other humans in the city to read through the files-Koba was apparently the only ape in the colony to not give the humans permission to read his file or his sister's. _How could they do that? Let the humans know how weak they use to be?_

Still, with most of the humans busy, they probably won't notice another death until much later. Koba chose not to approach Stone or Grey. Stone's hand was still bandaged up and Grey seemed to be...Somewhere else mostly. He didn't need them anyway, what he was about to do was something very personal.

He left without anyone knowing. Once he was outside, he followed Tori, making sure to keep a good distance behind her. It wasn't hard, even with a duffel bag, Tori ran faster than Koba could keep up with her. Occasionally, she'd stop and take a few breaths. Then continue to run.

It took several minutes, but they eventually arrived at an empty parking lot. There were trees and ferns everywhere, just like in the city. There was a cement wall in the far end, with stairs to the right of it. Tori continued to run until she got to the wall and then walked down the stairs.

Koba hid in the green blur of bushes, ferns, and overgrown grass, eyes still watching. But when he realized where they were, he couldn't help but look around.

The air held a sweet, salty smell and the sounds of seagulls and water splashing seemed to be everywhere. The land was a blur of sand and water. Koba had never seen a place like this before, the closest he's ever been to salt water was whenever he crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. But this place...This place was different. It was calmer, peaceful…Kinda pretty...

He saw Tori on the sandy floor. To his surprise, she took off her sleeveless sweater. Revealing another, faded blue colored, top. She then removed her shoes and socks, and then her pants. The top apparently extended down her body, covering up everyone except her legs. She placed her clothes into the duffel bag, and then pulled out a pair of black shorts and slipped them on.

There was something on Tori that caught Koba's eye. From this distance, it was hard to tell, but it looked like she had a scar on her right shoulder.

Tori, now wearing nothing but her bathing suit, proceeded to rub sunscreen on her skin. She's done this several times before, almost every day, and as far as she knew, she was the only one to go to the beach. It was as if the other survivors had been so afraid of the virus, of the apes, and of dying in general, that they forgot they had lives.

Now even Tori was no stranger to worrying about when death came upon her, but she refused to let her fear prevent her from living her life. If she was destined to die, and regardless of how she died, she accepted it. But she wasn't about to wait around for it to happen like so many others have confined themselves to do so.

When she was ready, she ran towards the doc. Anticipating the beautiful coldness with each, excited, step. Then, she leaped into the thick blueness. The water was cold to the touch and gave her chills with each movement but she loved the feeling. She took a breath of air and began to swim.

Koba watched, astonished by her actions. First of all, why in the world would she go in the water? The only thing that's in there is a drowning, wet death. Secondly, how is she still alive? And why is she enjoying it?

The scarred bonobo himself had never been in the water and whenever he was, it would only be his feet and ankles that would get wet. No one Koba knew could swim, he himself didn't know how. It was just a thing apes didn't do and even if they did, the ones in the colony certainly didn't. Though he never knew if humans swam, Koba could never imagine any of them doing it either.

 _Strange human._

Koba waited a little while before he realized that, aside from him, Tori was all alone. Not a single human in sight. He assumed others would join her eventually, but no one else came.

He knew right then, that he could kill her here…And he knew just where to get the gun to do it..!

He turned around and ran back to the city. He was so focused on his plan, that Koba hardly noticed when he returned to the warehouse and picked up another M4A1 rifle. He didn't even think of anything else as he made his way back to the parking lot. Tori was still there, still all alone.

He waited until she came out of the water. Then, he made his move. He jumped from the ceiling wall to the sandy ground, making Tori turn around. Her eyes went wide when she saw Koba. He then charged at Tori and pointed the gun at her.

Tori recoiled, she almost fell back into the water. The only thing she could think to do was to put her hands up.

He was going to do it, he was ready to kill her. He already killed Jacobs, but for extra revenge, he'll kill his daughter. Now Tori will know just how much he hated her…Just how much he had suffered because of her father...

"What? You want to kill me now? Go ahead! I dare you!" Even now, with a gun pointed at her, Tori was still as snarky as ever.

Koba wanted her to see the hatred in his eyes, and he wanted to see the fear in hers. But ironically, he found himself unable to meet her gaze. Her eyes had that look in them again, the same as before...The one he..He...

He pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

He tried again.

Still nothing.

His hands began to shake, so much so that he could barely hold the gun properly. His mind began to race. Was the gun even loaded? It had to be! Was it jammed? In his panic, Koba didn't realize that his finger wasn't even on the trigger. In fact, his finger had become so sweaty, that he kept losing his grip on the stupid thing.

Tori, taking the chance spoke. "Koba, listen to me! You're not alone! I know the pain you suffered! You don't have to do this!"

"Shut up!" Koba, frustrated with himself, kept the gun pointed at her. Though he was now shaking so much, that the gun threatened to fall from his grasp. "You! Know! Nothing! You! Don't! Know! Life! In! Cage!" Koba wished she were dead already. His eyes were threatening to shed tears. "Your! Father! Deserved! To die!"

What Tori said next, would change everything.

"Yes, he did! He deserved what you did to him-no! He deserved much more! He should have suffered the way he made us suffer!"

Koba froze. He stared at her, confused. "Wha…What?"

Tori tried to calm down but found it hard to. This is something she has never told anyone before. Up until now, her childhood was a forbidden subject. Something she hardly allowed herself to think about, as she had banished the memories from her mind. Yet, they came rushing back to her. As vividly and clear as ever.

"..While you were an experiment at Gen-Sys, my father use to beat me." The word 'beat' seemed small in comparison, her father did so much more to her than just 'beat' her. "..Every time he got mad, he would take it out on me. And if not me, then my mother."

Numb. That was all Koba felt. He searched Tori's eyes with his own, trying to tell if she was lying. But the pain and sadness he saw were as real as ever.

"What..Did..He..?"

Tori pulled the right strap of her bathing suit down, revealing the full scar. Now that he could clearly see it, Koba realized it ran from her shoulder blade to halfway down her chest. It was long and jagged and wrapped around her skin like a snake.

"When I was twelve...My father got so mad at me for getting a bad grade at school, that he.." Tori took a breath to ease her nerves. "..He threw me down the stairs and broke my collarbone."

Tori then moved her bangs out of the way, revealing another ugly scar that peaked out on the left side of her forehead and seemed to trail back on her head, hidden by her pink hair. "And...When I was seven, my father slammed my head in the door...Cut my head open.."

Koba could only look at her, horrified by how she got those scars. _How could anyone, human or ape, do that to their child?!_

It suddenly dawned on Koba that he always saw Jacobs as nothing more than his tormentor. Even after he killed him, he never considered the possibility that Jacobs had a family. Let alone one he abused. In fact, now that he knew, Jacobs suddenly became much more dislikable. Koba had never heard of parents abusing their children, but the act itself felt worse than murder. Like the ultimate taboo of all evils…And Koba, despite all he had been through at the hands of humans, never thought even they'd be capable of such evil.

He let the gun fall in the sand, its purpose forgotten. Koba was shivering so badly that he had to sit down. The memories of the labs flooded his mind, but he let them. Every horrible thing that ever happened to him, from his mother's death to the last experiment performed on him. All those years, he thought humans were cold and cruel, incapable of feeling pain or guilt. But Tori's story about her childhood suggested otherwise. Was it possible that Koba, after so many years of fearing and hating them to the point of seeking vengeance, found a human who understood him in a way that...That no ape...Not even his own sister, could?

Tori didn't say anything for a while. Letting Koba absorb what she had just told him. In the meantime, she let herself reflect back on her childhood. Remembering the few things that offered her comfort and a place to escape to, both real and imagined, and the many other things that weren't at all nice. Both good and bad memories. Tori had always known her father worked at Gen-Sys. She knew he was experimenting on apes, and even though she disliked the idea of hurting innocent creatures for research, she hoped a cure for Alzheimer's would make up for all the wrongs done to animals in labs. She never imagined she'd actually meet one of them, let alone one who her father tortured.

"..Were you always at Gen-Sys?" She asked after a good hour of silence passed.

"No.." Koba doubted he could tell her. His throat felt like it was closing in on itself, and his teeth kept biting at his lips and the insides of his cheeks.

Sensing what he was feeling, Tori resorted to a different form of communication. _"Would signing be easier?"_ Despite not using sign language for years, Tori was surprised to find that she hadn't forgotten how.

Koba raised his eyebrows. _"You know sign language?"_

 _"_ _Yeah."_ At least they had this in common. Sign language was small, but it meant something for both of them and Tori was grateful for that.

 _"_ _How did you learn?"_

 _"_ _My mother was deaf. My father beat her so badly that she lost all her hearing. She and I learned sign language to communicant, but my father never cared enough to learn himself."_

Koba was slowly beginning to realize that when he killed Jacobs, he didn't just kill the human who tortured him and his twin. But he had also killed a man who held no love or compassion in his heart. Not even for his wife, or his own daughter.

 _"_ _That's horrible."_ He hesitated before asking. _"What..Happened to your mother? After Jacobs died?"_

Tori had never spoken of this before. If her childhood wasn't bad enough, this had to be the worst. Throughout her childhood, no matter what her father did, her mother was always there. When she no longer was, her childhood truly ended. _"She died of the Simian Flu-the virus, just a couple months after my father died."_

Koba sighed. Another, sad, commonality they shared. _"My mother died too."_ It was still hard to talk about it, but it felt better knowing that Tori been through it too. _"She was trying to protect me and my sister from Roger, our caretaker. He…Beat her to death with a sack of oranges."_

Tori covered her mouth with her hands, the sympathy mirroring itself on her face. Koba looked away, unable to meet her gaze. They let the silence grow for a few minutes before Tori talked again.

"Is...Is that why you hate humans so much?"

 _"_ _No."_ Koba didn't even bother verbally speak. _"At least, that's not the only reason.."_ Koba bit his lip, and he realized he had been chewing on the tender skin. He was close to drawing blood. _"After Mother died, Dolly and I were adopted by a human named Tommy…He abused us…He did..This.."_ Koba half-heartedly touched his blind eye and the scar over the left side of his face.

Milo's face flashed into his mind. Koba had almost forgotten about his old friend and playmate. He never saw him again after they escaped Tommy's house, but he hoped no harm came to the chimp.

 _"_ _After that, Dolly and I were put in the labs...I don't know how we got to stick together, but I'm glad we did.."_

Koba's past pulled at Tori's heartstrings. When she first met Koba, she knew he hated humans but she honestly thought it was for a similar reason that Dreyfus had for hating apes. Now she knew that, unlike Dreyfus, the scarred bonobo hated the humans for a much more personal reason.

"I'm sorry all that happened to you…No one, ape or human, deserves to go through that." She looked at Koba with sad eyes, trying to picture him if his life had been happier but it was hard to with all the scars that seemed to reflect the pain and sadness he had to live through. "Do...Do you have any other relatives?" It felt like a dumb thing to ask, but her concern was beginning to grow for the ape. Just how alone was he?

Koba blinked several times, trying to think. He had honorary brothers, nephews, and sisters, but the only people who were related to him, by blood, were Dolly and their mother. Anything beyond that was just…Blank. _"I don't know."_ He answered. _"I never knew my father. Dolly and I never asked about him, and Mother and our other caretaker, Mary, never mentioned him."_ Koba realized right then that he never gave the subject much thought at all. Until now, his father seemed more like an imaginary person. An ape with no name, and no face. An ape who simply didn't exist. Wanting the focus to be off of him, he turned the question back on Tori. _"What about you? Do you have any family left?"_

"I don't think so." Tired of verbal talk, Tori began signing instead. _"I was an only child, so was my mother. My father had relatives back in Britain, but I didn't know them that well. I haven't heard from them since the Simian Flu, they're probably dead. I've been on my own ever since my mother died."_

That, for some reason, made Koba feel sick. Throughout all the trauma he endured in his life, he at least had Dolly. Even if they didn't see each other, knowing she was in the same building as him offered some comfort and now, after years of being in the woods, she was still his rock and shoulder to cry on. He couldn't imagine life without his older twin and being all alone and he didn't want to either. _"How old were you when she died?"_

 _"_ _Fifteen, when I was a teenager...Probably about the same age as Blue Eyes."_ Tori began to wonder just how old the apes actually were. She knew apes lived shorter lives than humans, so that would mean their age wouldn't reflect how many years they'd been alive-at least, not in the same way humans did.

 _"_ _I lost mine when I was a young child…I think I was two at the time.."_ Koba realized his mistake too late. His mother's face was as clear as day in his mind. He suddenly remembered her smell, were warm hugs, her soft fur, the way her fingers tickled him..And her eyes, her beautiful and calming, hazel brown eyes. She never spoke a word, but that didn't matter. She made the world seem like a warm and safe place, with nothing but hugs, kisses, tickles, and playtime to fill in the blanks. The full weight of missing her came down on him in one, devastating wave.

Despite his efforts, the sob fell out of Koba's throat before he could stop it. He immediately covered his face, desperately trying to hide how weak he was, but it was too late. Tori had seen his tears.

Thankfully, the female human said nothing. She didn't even make any movement. She just sat there, eyes on the sand. When she looked at him, it was nothing more than mere glances but the concern in her eyes still shown.

 _You're so weak._ All his life, Koba never cried in front of a human. Mostly, he didn't have time to cry and only times he ever did, was when the pain happened too fast for him to cover it up. To Koba, tears represented weakness. Especially if shed in a humans presence. _You just gave her a glimpse of how vulnerable you really are._ The self-loathing grew as Koba tried to banish his mother from his mind. How could he cry like this? And out of all humans, why did have to be in front of Tori?!

Koba was relieved when he was able to calm down. He wiped his face, trying to get rid of the warm droplets that stained his face. He expected her to say something, but Tori remained silent.

Instead, when Koba finally let his hands fall from his face, Tori reached over and held one of them in her own. Koba looked at her, and their eyes met. Koba now realized what was so different About Tori's eyes than Jacobs.

Her eyes were caring and held a warmth to them that he never knew humans were capable of. Most of all, her soft gaze made Koba feel safe (which he almost never felt unless Dolly was with him). Why? He didn't know, but he now knew what else he and Tori had in common.

Vulnerability. And her's reminded Koba of his own.

* * *

Caesar could no longer tell what was real and what wasn't. When he slept, he dreamt he was back in the ape village and saw Koba point the gun at him. He'd wake up and fall back to sleep, then dream the same nightmare only with Dolly aiming the gun. He'd wake up again and fall asleep, and the dream would have a terrifying twist and it would be both Koba and Dolly pointing guns at him…And then shooting, and suddenly his entire body explodes.

When he was awake, Caesar saw nothing but monsters. The shadows became ghosts, the other apes around, both in the cell and outside as slaves, looked like distorted, walking corpses. Sometimes, they literally looked like monsters. He swore he saw Pope with three heads at one point and Dolly once had teeth that were so sharp, it pained him to look at her. Meanwhile, Ash would turn from an ape, to a spider, to a bat, and then to a bear. Half of the time, Caesar wasn't even sure if the boy was real or just a phantom.

The Ape King didn't notice a few days had passed. If he wasn't awake, he was asleep. If he wasn't in the cell, he was in the room with the lightning and the needles. If he wasn't in pain, he felt sick or hungry, sometimes both. If his pus-oozing wounds didn't hurt, they itched and he couldn't help but scratch them until they bleed. Caesar wondered if he was dying, and he almost wished he'd just die so all the confusion would just end.

Pope, meanwhile, was in the far left side of the cell. He spent most of the time staring at the three apes, growing more alarmed by their behavior as they days moved on. Ash and Dolly were the most disturbing. Ash, who previously screamed and cried every time the humans brought him back to the cell, was now snarling and growling like a rabid dog. Dolly was the same. The few times she uttered Koba's name, she'd also say _'die'_ in a voice that was equally disturbing. Caesar, surprisingly, frightened Pope the most out of the three. The Ape King was extremely paranoid, his red eyes often wide open, his head frantically turning at every sound (even if the imagined ones) and even being scared of...Of the others, even of Pope himself.

It got to the point that Pope began to miss the old Caesar. It was much easier to resent and plan to scheme against him when the Ape King was his usual, non-paranoid self.

Pope had tried to protect the three of them from the humans-even Caesar. He tried once and got tased as a result. He tried again and was beaten so brutally with a baton, that his already mutilated body was now covered with black and blue bruises.

Today, the humans hadn't come yet. Maybe they finally grew bored of Dolly, Caesar, and Ash and decided to leave them alone. Pope hoped that won't mean he'll be next.

He glanced outside, just so he could look at something other than the three apes in front of him. What he found instead was Dot just a couple of feet away. She was preoccupied with collecting rocks and putting them in a cart that was attached to her by a chain. She looked just as miserable as she did the last time he saw her.

"Dot!" He called in a whispery voice, grabbing her attention.

 _"_ _Pope."_ She still remembered his name, which relieved him.

Pope still wanted to try an gain Dot's trust for his plan, but his schemes would just have to wait for now. If Dot had been here longer than he had than maybe she could shed some light on the situation.

 _"_ _Dot, were you in this cell before?"_

Dot looked at the cell with a haunted gaze. She did nothing to hold her tears back. _"Yes."_

The scarred chimp had never felt such a mixture of relief and..Sympathy? For the female. Did she know what they were doing to apes that were in this cell? Is her time in this cell the cause of her deep sadness?

 _"_ _I'm in here with three other apes. Caesar, Ash and Dolly are their names."_ Pope was careful not to tell Dot just who Caesar was. _"The humans have been taking them away and bringing them back. They act differently now, Dolly and Ash are like mad dogs, and Caesar is all paranoid. "_ He stopped explaining when he saw the look in her eyes.

For the first time, Dot's face had a different emotion other than depression. Fear. She quickly brought her hands up. _"Do they have burn marks on the sides of their heads?"_

 _"_ _Yes!"_

Dot glanced around, scanning her surroundings before continuing to sign. _"The humans only do this to the apes that have 'lights in their eyes'. It means they still have hope or a reason to fight and stay alive. Sometimes they do it to apes who rebel."_ Pope remembered the first day when that soldier said Dolly and Caesar had that. He wondered why Lake and the other's weren't chosen as well. _Are they even still alive?_

 _"_ _What do they do to them?"_

 _"_ _They bring them to a room, and restrain them…Then lightning happens, and then the needles, then.."_ She hesitated, blinded by her own tears. _"..It makes the apes see things…Things that aren't real.."_

That would explain why Ash thought his father tried to kill him, and who knows just what Dolly and Caesar had been seeing for the last few days.

 _"_ _What are they trying to do?"_

 _"_ _The..Things the humans make them see…It's to make them...Kill all who they love.."_

Pope's eyes widened. Did he read her signs right? How could these humans influence apes to kill their own families?! _"Did...Did you..?"_ He wasn't sure if he should or wanted, to ask.

Dot bit her lips, her eyes filling with more tears. Her face mirrored a level of despair that Pope didn't think was possible.

 _"_ _They locked me in there after they captured my colony."_ She started, her hands were shaking. _"..They took me to that room.."_ The familiar look of trauma was painful to look at. _"..I saw nightmares for days...When they finally let me out, I saw my child…My only son…!"_ She was shaking, and desperately trying to quiet her whimpers.

"Dot?" Pope normally feigned concern for others, but this...This was different. He genuinely felt worried all of the sudden.

Dot took a deep breath. The look in her eyes was the most heartbreaking look that Pope had ever seen in his entire life. Even all the apes who came from labs were nothing compared to this. And nothing could prepare him for what she said next.

"I..K-Killed..M-M..My..S-Son..!"

Pope's stomach sunk, his mouth fell open. He didn't want to believe her, but the immense grief and overwhelming guilt that radiated from her proved she was telling the truth. A mother? Killing her own child? Is that really how far these humans would go? Just for control over apes? For the first time since being kidnapped, Pope began to feel afraid. He wanted power and control himself but even though Pope wanted to kill off the entire human race, he didn't want to kill their children at least, not while they were children. He'd wait until the human children were adults, then he'd kill them off. But actually making their parents kill them?…That was something that not even Pope would consider..Not even to Caesar's followers...Not even to a human...

 _Good grief! These humans make the labs seem merciful!_

Suddenly, the door swung open. Pope spun around just in time to see the humans grab the three apes and drag them out of the cell. Dolly and Ash struggled but were easily overpowered by the soldiers. Caesar only moaned as the humans roughly forced him to his feet.

The door slammed closed as quickly as it opened.

Chills ran all over his body like spiders. Pope didn't need to ask, he already knew what the humans were planning to do. He looked back at Dot, who went back to work for cover.

 _"_ _Dot, Caesar has a wife and two sons back where we came from. And Ash's parents and Dolly's twin brother are back there too."_ The faces of Rocket, Tinker, Cornelia, Blue Eyes, little Cornelius and Koba flashed in his mind. Are they really going to be killed by the very people who love them the most?

Dot huffed, her face completely wet with tears. Shaking her head sadly, she signed: _"They're doomed."_

* * *

 **A's/N: And play the dramatic music! XD**

 **So we finally get to know more about Tori and Dot in this chapter! XD So why did I give Tori a survivor of child abuse? Because I wonder if Koba were to meet a human who was also abused by Jacobs (even if he didn't seem that violent in Rise) then maybe he'd see them differently (or at least that one in particular!). The same can be said for Dot, only with her it's more of a 'what if Pope decided to fix someone and ended up being fixed by that person himself' sort of thing. Also, Tori's love of** **swimming and running is loosely based off of my mom who recently ran an Ironman! 3**

 **Sorry for that very brief scene with Red, Winter, and Pinto! I know I should really give those guys a proper scene, but I had a little writer's block so I made it THAT short! XD And yes, Grey is OFFICIALLY going to have a little 'maternity/paternity/father-to-be' vacation!**

 **Also, sorry if anyone got confused about the time gap in the chapter. After the scene with Red, the timeline jumps three days. (I just wanted to add as much detail in my chapters as possible, ok?! X3) I hope that clears things up if not then let me know and I'll tell you. ;)**

 **To end this note, allow me to quote Caesar!: _"From humans, Koba learned hate...But nothing else." ~Caesar._ Believe it or not, that quote alone made me fall in love with Koba and inspired most of the story. As you guys probably guessed from that scene with him an Tori, Koba's relationship with her is about to change dramatically and I'm happy to say that our favorite bonobo is about is learn more from humans than just hate! :D **

**Now, I'm gonna go to bed. Goodnight/Good morning! :D**

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


	9. How The Cookie Crumbles

**A's/N: YAY I FINISHED THE CHAPTER! :D This literally took me ALL WEEK LONG to write!...So yes, it's officially the longest chapter I've ever written (well by far!). This would be due to me combining another chapter into this one. The chapter was originally going to end with Pope...But I just wasn't satisfied with it, so I added more in it so now it ends with a cliffhanger...And even though there aren't any cookies in this chapter, the phrase was the perfect name for it. XD**

 **Warning! This chapter mentions electric shock therapy. You don't see it, but it is mentioned. Just wanted to let you guys know in case any of you are sensitive to that stuff and/or are like me and just see it as a form of torture branded as a medical treatment...**

 **Ok, enough of me rambling! Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

It was the sound of the footsteps that woke Red up. He hated waking up in the horse stables, the hard, wooden walls and cement floor was uncomfortable, and all the straws making at him and getting stuck in his fur made it impossible to get a good sleep. In his blurred, tired vision, he saw two soldiers walking around in the long aisle. One of them carried a long chain, with many collars on it, and the other held a taser. They went through the stalls, collecting only the young apes. Most of which, obeyed their orders and let them chain them without question. Even the scared ones.

Red, now fully awake, shook Winter up. The albino gorilla blinked and winced as he sat up, his burns still hurt. He took one look at the soldiers, and his eyes widened in fear. _"What's happening?"_

 _"_ _I don't know."_ Red watched as the armed men kept getting more gorilla children. He hid the still sleeping Pinto behind him. If they planned to take that child, they'd have to go through him first.

 _But how do I stop them?_ Red glanced around, but couldn't find any weapons. Suppose he could just attack them, and tell Pinto to flee…But that would result in him being tased. Or worse, killed. And Pinto could end up killed by one of the soldiers outside…And if Red died, who would protect Winter?

"Don't fear them." The whispery voice was Tanoddah. Red and Winter looked at her, surprised at her calmness as the humans took Cooper, Choy and Bella. _"They're our friends. They mean no harm."_

No harm? How could she say that?! Just days ago, soldiers like these two tried to have Pinto fight a large, deranged gorilla and branded Winter just because he shot him. How could these soldiers be any different from them?!

"It's ok." This voice was new, small but calming. It was one of the soldiers. To the gorilla's surprise, he put the taser down and removed his helmet. Revealing his face.

The human had paling skin, brown and slightly greying hair, and his dark eyes were warm. Despite the army fatigues, he appeared scrawny and small in appearance. Like his clothes belonged to someone much bigger and stronger than he was.

"My name is Will. I'm not going to hurt you, I on your side."

Red's eyes narrowed at him. Winter shuddered, shifting his body to hide behind Red. Accidentally waking up Pinto in the process.

Sensing the distrust, the other soldier took off his helmet as well. He looked bigger than Will, as his clothes were more fitting and his face had a little more color. The grey sprouts of hair on his head and face gave him a slightly scruffy appearance.

"I'm Preacher, you can trust us. We're not like the other soldiers." His voice was deeper, but not by much.

Red glared at the two. Not sure if he wanted to trust them or not. "Why..Should we..Trust you?" He had seen too much death in the short time he'd been in the base to know what these soldiers were capable of. Even if they claimed to be on their side, it would take a lot more than words to convince Red to trust them.

"Because they're trying to help us." Tanoddah was talking now. Red realized at the moment that she knew these humans.

"..Help..Us?" Asked Winter, his eyes mixed with hope and fear.

"Yes." Tanoddah began signing. _"Their colonel is a brutal leader. Most humans here follow him, but not all of them agree with him. Will and Preacher are two of them. They want to stop him."_

Winter's eyes met Red's. It was as if the two were asking each other if the other believed this. Even here, even in a place like this, could there really be good humans among bad ones? The ones in the city certainly seemed that way. Despite not trusting any of them, even Red noticed that Malcolm, Ellie, and their group were more caring towards the apes than the others in the city seemed.

"Not everyone from San Fransisco were kidnapped," Will spoke, getting their attention. "The apes and the humans that were left behind. I've been sending them clues as to who these people are and what they're planning to do. Just hours ago, they sent Caesar and two other apes back to try and kill everyone there." At the mention of Caesar and the human's plans, the two gorillas tensed up. Caesar? Killing his own people? As much as Red disliked Caesar, he knew the Ape King would never kill an ape. Let alone the ones in his own colony. The very thought of him killing his family and friends horrified Red. He didn't have to look at Winter to know he felt the same.

"What did they do to him?!"

"They kept him in the Breaking Room. That's where they break the apes down, distort their memories and literately brainwash them in order to turn them against their loved ones." Preacher gulped, as if just talking about it creeped him out. "Once they realize what they've done, the ape is broken. So broken, that it becomes easy for the colonel to control them."

Is that what happened to their friends? Did these soldiers actually take Caesar, Pope, Dolly, Lake, Andy, Lucky, Ash, and Pepper and turn them into murderers?!

"We sent someone out with them. A boy that was taken from the city, Alex. He's bringing one of the serum capsules with him. Hopefully, they'll know what to do." There was genuine hope in Preacher's voice. He really wanted this to work.

The boy's face appeared in Red's mind. He wondered what sort of horrors Alex had to go through.

Winter was eyeing the chain that Preacher still held. The one that the young gorillas were still attached to. Slowly piecing together what the two humans were doing. "You...Bring...Children, back?" He asked. "To city?"

"That's the plan." Will took one step closer to the stall. "We're trying to pull off a mass escape from the base. Both humans and apes. We can't do everyone in one night, but we can at least get the children out first."

Mass escape? At the corner of his eye, Red saw some soldiers outside the stables. Each one had a row of children attached to chains. Some were human, and some were apes. He counted nine rows, but there were too many children to properly count. The only familiar face he saw was Pepper.

Could he really trust them? Red still doubted these two, who's to say Will and Preacher aren't just gathering up all the children just so they could kill them all? They certainly had the chance to if they wanted to. _But if Pinto doesn't go...They'll force me to kill him.._ The paranoia had built itself in Red's chest. None of the soldiers had said, to his face, that they were going to make him kill Pinto, but Red knew from eavesdropping on them that they were trying to figure out the method of how Pinto will die at his hands.

Throughout the past few days, Red had come to see both Winter and Pinto as more than just the crybabies he had to babysit. But more as brothers that he had to protect. Normally Red cared for nothing but his own safety, but somehow that has changed. The two other gorillas were all he had in this horrible place, and he didn't want to lose them.

"I go home." Squeaked Pinto. Red and Winter looked at him, surprised that the youngster had been listening. _"But I don't want to go without Red and Winter."_

At that moment, Red made up his mind. If it meant Pinto and Pepper, and all the other children kept here, could live than maybe trusting Will and Preacher wouldn't be such a waste at all.

 _"_ _We'll be alright, Pinto. Winter and I can take care of ourselves."_ Red didn't need to tell him anything. Just looking at the tiny gorilla told him that he knew what was happening. _"You'd be safer at home than you are here."_

Pinto glanced at Will and Preacher, then back at the two older gorillas. _"Promise me you two would stay alive."_ He signed. _"Red, don't let the soldiers hurt Winter anymore. And Winter, try to be brave."_

The young boy's words surprised them. Pinto wasn't even old enough to be in Maurice's class, let alone the Gorilla Guard. Yet, he was beginning to sound like one of the mighty guardians. _"We promise."_ They both signed.

But even as Pinto went over to the stall door, and allowed Preacher to chain him, Red hoped he was making the right choice and that he could keep his promise, not just to protect Winter but to keep them both alive. He wasn't sure if he could live with himself if he failed either way.

* * *

 ** _BANG!_**

The sound was sudden and loud. It's echo made it seem to come from everywhere.

 ** _BANG!_**

Now the noise was fully recognized. The sound of a gun. Everyone's stopped what they were doing and in seconds were all scattering about. Derek, Dreyfus, Luca, Stone, Ellie, and Malcolm ran out of the building. Despite needing Tinker for support, Rocket joined them. Blue Eyes and Maurice ran to them, then Kempt and Foster appeared.

"Where did that come from?!" Dreyfus demanded, head dashing from the humans to the apes as if he didn't know who to ask.

"It wasn't from the quarantine area, it would have been louder." Said, Malcolm.

They suddenly heard footsteps running towards them. It was Tori and Koba, but they looked different than usual. Tori with her pink hair wet and sticking to her face and shoulders and wearing her old bathing suit and swim shorts and Koba with his fur looking slightly damp. Both of them had sand up to their knees. "We heard the gunshots from the beach, what the heck is going on here?"

"That what we're trying to figure out!" Dreyfus snapped.

"You two were at the beach? Together?" Asked Kempt.

Foster frowned at the shorter human. "Seriously? Do you really think now is a good time to ask that?"

Tori rolled her eyes. "As a matter of fact, Kempt, yes. I was swimming, and Koba was playing in the sand."

Stone looked at Koba with a questioning gaze. _"You? Playing in sand?"_ Had that metal tile hit the scarred bonobo harder than they thought?

 _"_ _Yes."_ Koba tried to hide the relief from his features. Tori wasn't going to tell them what they talked about earlier. _"What? Didn't you know I could be playful too?"_

 ** _BANG!_**

Everyone ducked and jumped back. That gunshot was even closer than before. When they looked, a soldier stood there. The only difference between him and the last two soldiers from before was that his helmet had a skull drawn on its front. "You're all gonna die today, Suckers!" He then ran, shooting his fun as he went.

"Oh no, you don't! Get back here!" Foster yelled as he chased after the man. Luca followed, howling to get the other gorillas to help out.

The others waited for something to happen. Another machine attack? More soldiers? But nothing happened. "That's it?" Dreyfus couldn't believe it. "Just a stray soldier shooting at people?"

"Somethings not right here." Said Derek, looking around. "Where did he come from?"

"Didn't see." Said Blue Eyes. He and the other apes were just as surprised as the humans.

"Guys, we should really do something about our security. Like, put people on guard." Said Kempt.

Just then, they heard a voice. The voice of the last person they'd expect to see. Especially since the last time they saw him, he was kidnapped. "D-Dad!"

It couldn't be. Could it?

"Dad! E-Ellie!"

Alex stood just feet away from the group. His clothes were disheveled, his hair was messy, his face pale and his eyes huge. Although he didn't seem hurt, he was shaking so badly that it was impossible to tell if he was limping or not.

"Alex!" Malcolm ran to him and, despite his broken arm, hugged him tightly. He pulled away and inspected him. "Are you ok? Are you hurt? How did you get out?" He asked as Ellie ran to his side.

Alex ignored his father's questions and instead looked at him with terror in his eyes. "D-Dad! Ellie! Th-They did something to them! They did something to them!" He kept repeating those five words, the fear intensifying each time.

Derek, Dreyfus, Kempt, and Tori watched, not knowing what to do. Maurice, Stone, Koba, Blue Eyes, Rocket and Tinker looked at each other. What was he talking about?!

"What? What did they do?" Malcolm asked as a feeling of dread washed over him.

Suddenly, Ellie saw something. Was that?…Were they really all coming back? But when the two figures got closer, her eyes widened. "Malcolm!"

Malcolm looked, his eyes following Ellie's gaze as Alex his head on his father's shoulder for protection. The others looked too. To their shock, there stood Ash and Dolly. Tinker's eyes filled with relieved tears. She was about to run to her son, but Rocket held her back. Despite wanting to do the same himself, Rocket noticed Ash's Eyes. Koba himself almost took a step towards his twin sister, but he too saw what Rocket saw. Everyone saw it in fact.

Something was wrong. Ash and Dolly had burn marks on the sides of their heads, and they looked sleep deprived but that wasn't the worst part. Their eyes had this crazed, wild look to them. The look was dangerously similar to that of a dog with rabies.

"Ash..!" Rocket's voice came in a concerned whisper.

"..Dolly.." Koba's was more out of shock.

Then, before anyone saw it coming, the two apes suddenly charged at them. Ash lunging at his parents while Dolly at her brother. They moved too fast, it was as if they were being possessed. Ash slashed and beat Tinker until her nose and lips were bleeding. Rocket tried to protect his wife from their son's blows, but Ash turned on him just as quickly and in seconds, the teenager was bashing his father's head into the ground and making him bleed. Koba tried to wrestle Dolly off of him, but she easily overpowered her younger twin. Her fingers dug into his skin as she scratched him. He kicked her but she suddenly sunk her teeth into his shoulder, causing Koba to yell from the sudden pain.

Maurice, Blue Eyes, Stone, and the humans could do nothing but watch in mute horror at the scene. They wanted to help but Ash and Dolly were fighting so viciously, it honestly looked like the two of them could kill all of them in one blow.

Then, the yelling and snarls were silenced by the distinct sounds of a gun. And suddenly, Ash and Dolly were on the ground, with something stuck in their necks. What the..? The three bloodied apes and the others turned their heads and saw Kempt with a tranquilizer gun pointed at the two unconscious apes. His eyes huge.

"Sorry! I know 'no guns' but I didn't know what else to do!" He stammered, trying to recover from the shock of what had just happened. Blue Eyes looked at the apes. The last time a human pointed a gun at one of them was back at the damn, and Carver had a real gun back then. However, this was different. They'll let this one slide.

Tori walked closer, Derek and Dreyfus following her. "Are you guys ok?" She asked. Tinker and Rocket gave slight nods, while Koba muttered a yes.

"What happened? Why did they attack like that?!" It was hard to tell who Dreyfus was concerned about, but it was likely either himself or the human's safety.

Ellie examined the female bonobo and young chimp. She looked at their burns and frowned. "I have a bad feeling about this. See these burns? They typically come from Electric Shock Therapy."

Derek frowned at the mentions of EST. "They were tortured."

Koba barely listened to the human's talk. He just stared at the unconscious body of his sister. The very person who had been protecting him ever since the moment their mother died. _Why, Dolly?_ The way she attacked him was a strength that the female had never displayed before. In fact, the only form of fighting Dolly knew was play fighting. She couldn't even take down an elk, let alone another ape. _What did they do to my sister?_

Rocket and Tinker were looking at their son with worried eyes. At their precious, beautiful child. They've seen several humans hurt apes in their lifetimes, but this? What have these humans done to their son to make him like this?

"Will." The frail voice was Alex's. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. It was a capsule, the kind that contained vaccine medicine. "W-Will...Told me to give this to you."

Will? As in, Will Rodman?! Alex had met _him_?!

Ellie took the medicine capsule and looked it over. Surprised to see a capsule like this in excellent condition. But when she saw the label on it, she felt a lump form in her throat and sick to her stomach. She knew what this is. She hadn't seen one in years, but she recognized the letter and the numbers imprinted on it like it was yesterday.

Then, in the short silence, the group suddenly became aware of a groaning noise. It was low and hoarse like it came from the throat of a person in pain. There was no way to tell if it came from a human or from an ape. Then, a figure stumbled out from behind one of the buildings. The figure slowly made his way over to them. Kempt aimed the tranquilizer gun, ready to shoot if necessary. Maurice, Stone, Blue Eyes, Derek and Dreyfus surrounded the group, keeping Tori, Koba, Rocket, Tinker, Ellie, Malcolm, Alex and the unconscious Ash and Dolly concealed. But when the figure got close enough, they all immediately recognized him..And they were horrified by the state he was in.

Caesar looked and sounded like a zombie. His face was pale with a green tint to it, his eyes were bloodshot, his fur was dampened from his own sweat and the still open wounds on his chest and shoulder were showed alarming signs of infection. He opened his mouth, possibly trying to say something, but only letting out groans instead.

"C-Caesar!" Malcolm gasped.

It was as if Blue Eyes was seeing a ghost. One straight out of his worst nightmares. "Father..!" He rushed over to the Ape King, just in time to catch him as he collapsed.

Caesar could barely hear the voices around him. All he was aware of was the pain in his chest, the burning sensation in his eyes, and how badly his body ached. He felt as if every movement he ever made in his life, from a single finger lift to a jump, had caught up with him and now his body was paying for it. He swore he heard someone saying his name, but he was so tired...So desperate to go to sleep, that Caesar didn't make any attempt to resist as his eyelids closed. Shutting out the voices and the blurred shadows as they did.

* * *

The cell seemed empty without Caesar, Dolly, and Ash inside. Sure the elderly female orangutan was still there, and her eyes still glared at him from time to time, but Pope hardly saw her as company. Besides her being a stranger, Pope noticed her eyes were as brown as dirt. Indicating that she was a primitive ape. _An animal._ Despite this, he still found her glare uncomfortable. It was as if she knew something..As if she were reading his own thoughts... It made him squirm and shiver under her gaze.

Dot had stayed with Pope for as long as she could without the guards yelling at her. Eventually, she had to leave but not before giving the scarred chimpanzee a glance of pure worry before disappearing into the crowd of slaves. Occasionally, he would look in the direction she ran to, and wonder where she was now. But at the moment, Pope found himself reflecting back on his original scheme. Only now looking at the slaves with a new point of view.

 _Can I really do it?_ He asked himself. Could he really try and manipulate Dot, a female who's been broken beyond belief, to follow him, rebel against the humans, and convince her that Caesar was bad and wage war against him and all those who follow him and to the entire human race?...Pope knew the answer to that, and it wasn't in his favor. _Dot doesn't need a leader._ He realized. _She needs someone to protect her._ Pope hated to think about his past, but the one thing he remembered the most about it was how helpless he felt. How badly he wished someone, anyone for that matter, would just swoop in and save him from all the pain and all the bad humans. He had eventually stopped wishing for people who'd never come and didn't exist, but the memory of the feeling never left him. Many apes who were from labs felt the same way, but most of them healed from it by marriage or from their relatives. Someone to lean on, to turn to for comfort and to tell them that everything would be alright. The only two lab apes that Pope knew of who never married were Koba and himself-but Koba never really needed to fall in love for that sort of company, he always had Dolly for that. But Pope had no one.

It was long too late for anyone to protect him. He had no longer wanted it, only vengeance. But...What if...What if he could do that for Dot? She had suffered too much hurt to be oblivious to bad humans, and Pope had no idea how to get her, or himself, out of the base, but maybe...Just maybe...He could give her the hope and the protection that no one gave him...

His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened, and the humans came in. Pope tried to hide the dread that washed over him as they came for him. What are they going to do? Torture him as they did with the others? Turn him into one of the slaves? They chained him and the orangutan and took them out of the room. They walked through the hallway, out the door, passed the slaves gate, into another door of a different building and before long, Pope found himself in a small, dark room lit only by the lined lights on the ceiling. There was a desk against the left wall, covered with bottles and containers and other miscellaneous objects that Pope could not identify. A faded, fire extinguisher hung on the wall straight ahead, in between another door and a window. The only other furniture was a table with what looked like maps strewn over it and a single chair next to it.

What grabbed Pope's attention were the bonobo, the gorilla and the chimpanzee in the far corner with their heads down and the one human who stood at the table. Back toward him and the other soldiers, until he turned around and looked at them. He walked over to them, eyes on the orangutan. He smirked.

"Haven't seen this one around here for days. Did she try to escape again?" Escape? That primitive animal had tried to escape? How could she be capable of that?

"Yes, Sir. What shall we do with her?"

The human looked at the female orangutan. His piercing blue eyes seemed as sharp as a scalpel. He nodded at the soldier. "Since all attempts to break her have failed, I suggest she be my servant so I can watch her closely. If she rebels and escapes again? She'll be executed."

"Sir, yes Sir!" Said the soldier. Pope felt the chain tug as the other soldier began to take him away.

"Hold it!" Said the human. He then looked at the fishnet scarred chimp, taking in his looks. Pope suddenly felt self-conscious about every mark and scar on his body. He wondered what the human thought of them if he found it disgusting or not. "State your name."

The exact words were said to Caesar that first day. Pope bit his lip, not wanting to give this human that information.

"Answer the colonel!" The solider holding his chain shouted at him. Colonel? Pope looked at the human with shocked eyes. The human didn't look at all intimidating. He had fair, pink skin that went all the way up to his bald head. His nose was straight and thick, like an arrow piece. His lips were thin and pale, almost highlighted by the light beard on his face. Was this human really responsible for all the torture and death that took place at the base?

"Pope." His voice fell as he answered. "Who are-" He was cut off by a sudden whack from a baton.

"You will only speak when spoken to, monkey!"

The colonel put his hand up, silencing the solider. "Leave him here, he will be another servant for me."

Servant? Pope would rather be tased than serve this human.

"What about the lights in his eyes?" Asked a solider.

The colonel took Pope's face and held it tightly, turning his head so the soldier could see his eyes. "Do you see this? Most of the apes who have the lights in their eyes have something to lose. A reason to have hope. But this one? His eyes don't have lights. What he has is a will to live, but nothing more. He has nothing to lose, that makes him even more dangerous than those who have lights in their eyes. An ape with nothing to lose will stop at nothing to rebel." He motioned with his head towards the orangutan. "Like her."

Pope glanced at the female orangutan. In the dim light, her fur seemed so lightly orange, that it almost seemed whit and it hung loosely, making her seem ghostly in appearance. She didn't seem that much different from a regular orangutan, but her hard, brown eyes seemed strong enough to break down any wall with her glare. Why were these humans so desperate to keep her in their control when she looked nothing more than someone's grumpy grandmother?

The soldiers understood and left. The colonel looked at Pope and the orangutan, frowning at them. "My name is Colonel McCullough. You will refer to me only as 'Sir'." His voice was hard, like a rock. It vaguely reminded Pope of his own training methods with the Ape Army. "You will do what I say when I say it. Defy me, rebel against me or try to escape and you will die. Understand?"

Both apes nodded. Unable to speak even if they wanted to. The colonel snapped his fingers, getting the three others apes attention. "Hazell, Carlos! You know what to do. Cortez, get my clothes ready."

The gorilla-Cortez? disappeared into another room, the remaining apes walked closer. The chimpanzee was a female, Hazell?. She had a heart-shaped face that was covered in old and healing bruises. She had soft, spring colored eyes and very brown fur. Her large and very round abdomen indicated pregnancy, which made a pit form in Pope's throat. He hoped these horrible humans won't force her to kill her child as they did to Dot.

The bonobo, who must be Carlos, was in an even worse state. He was so skinny, that he was practically skin and bone and Pope swore he could see every bone and joint click and contort with every movement he made. His eyes were red with dark circles under them which looked ghastly against his already pale skin. The skin around his mouth, especially his lips, were raw. It looked as if he literally had been pealing and picking the skin off from his face. The fur on the sides of his head was braided and ran all the way down to his chest. The worst part was his body, especially his arms, were covered in open sores. Some had blue and red lines under them, some looked infected. Some looked old, and some were as recent as yesterday. There were a few sores on his face, near his eyes, on his head, and on his nose. But unlike the ones on his body, they looked dry and crusty with no other marks.

The only thing about Carlos that wasn't alarming were his green eyes, which Pope couldn't stop looking were cold and indifferent as if the older male had trained himself to be detached from reality. It was disturbing.

 _"_ _We do chores."_ Signed Hazell. _"We clean and cook. All day, until he falls asleep. Then we get to rest."_

Cortez put a military top on the colonel, carefully sliding the sleeves over the human's muscular arms. Something Pope knew the human could do easily on his own. The gorilla then gave him and hat, and a pair of sunglasses. The look gave the human a much more dangerous appearance. Before, he looked like a raw and uncooked turkey. Completely naked of its feathers, leaving a bright pink carcass. But now the human looked strong, powerful and very intimidating.

"I expect this place to be cleaned by the time I get back tonight." He said as he walked out the front door. A single 'sir' from outside told Pope that the place was guarded.

Hazell and Cortez watched on in silence. Carlos didn't seem to notice his master's departure. The orangutan kept her glare on the colonel until the door closed and locked behind him. Once they knew he was gone, Cortez looked at the group.

 _"_ _We should get to work. The more we do now, the less we'll have to do later."_ Now that he could see him better, Pope realized Cortez was the burn-scarred gorilla from that first day. At the time, he didn't give the silverback much thought but now he saw that the burn scars wrapped around his entire head, just barely touching his face. The burns continued down his back and shoulders, all the way down to halfway down his legs. The only way to tell he was a silverback was by the black fur on the few places on his body that weren't burned.

To his shock, the female orangutan signed in reply. _"Has anything changed since our last escape attempt?"_ The very ape who said nothing for days had finally said something.

 _"_ _Only that security has doubled, and the humans have sent three apes back to the city. Will and Preacher have already done the rest."_ Cortez replied.

"You. All. Know each other?" Pope asked in a whisper.

The two apes looked at him as if suddenly remembering that he was one of the newer apes in the base. It was Hazell who answered him. "Yes." Her voice was small but sweet. Like a cookie. _"We're part of a group of rebels in the base."_ Rebels? Within this prison? _"Cortez and Rowena attempted to escape to get an idea of how a mass escape would work."_

Rowena. So that's the orangutan's name. The female's glare was on Pope again, and the gaze made him shiver. _"Don't be fooled by him, Hazell."_ She signed. _"I was in the same cell as him for days. He's been scheming, I don't know what, but he is wicked on the inside."_

Pope would have been insulted if it wasn't true, but he knew it was. He was just surprised that Rowena, despite being primitive, was able to pick up on that.

 _"_ _Can't be any worse than the colonel, and what's happening here."_ There was something about Hazell that made her different from the other three apes. Carlos seemed almost as hopeless as Dot, while Cortez and Rowena appeared anxious to leave as soon as they could. But Hazell seemed careful but considerate.

 _"_ _Are you all rebels?"_ They were an odd group, not exactly what Pope would think of when imagining a band of rebels.

This time, it was Cortez who answered. _"All of us except for Carlos."_ He motioned to the bonobo with his head. _"Poor soul has been here the longest. McCullough has turned him into his most 'behaved' servant. Gives him the bottle and needles. Makes him submissive."_

Pope glanced at Carlos, the male wasn't looking at him. He seemed lost in his own thoughts. What had McCullough done to him?

As if sensing his thoughts, Rowena suddenly began signing. _"Don't get any funny ideas, rogue."_ A rogue? Was that really what she thought of him as? Well, she's not completely wrong. Pope was alone in this base, if Bon and Rex were here, they'd have his back. But right now, the scarred chimpanzee was a lone, would-be traitor.

 _My plan could work._ He thought. He knew it was unlikely he'd end up being the leader, but the rebels were already in the base. Just waiting for a chance to start a rebellion inside. Overthrowing Caesar would have to wait.

 _"_ _I want to join you. I want to get a slave named Dot out of here."_ He quickly added, noticing Rowena's narrowed eyes.

Cortez and Hazell looked at each other. Cortez gave a slight nod, and Hazell stepped closer to the other chimp. _"How broken is she?"_

 _"_ _They forced her to kill her son. I don't know how long she's been here, but she has lost all hope."_ If that wasn't broken, Pope didn't know what was.

Horror graced Hazell's face and she put a hand on her belly. _She needs to get out of here too._ Pope Realized. Judging by how far along Hazell looked, her child may be born soon.

 _"_ _Will and Preacher have already sent the children out of the base. I don't when the next mass escape will happen, but we plan to have Carlos be one of the escapees. We could add Dot as well."_ Cortez signed.

Relief filled Pope. Maybe this is he could protect Dot. If he could get her out of here, then maybe she'd have hope again.. _Then she won't end up like me._

"You. Are all. Wasting time." The voice was like thunder deep in a storm cloud. It was so rasped, it was almost painful to hear it. Pope looked to his right and realized Carlos was now looking at him.

 _"_ _The colonel will kill all of us. It doesn't matter if we're here, or at the human city, or anywhere else in the world. We'll all die by his hands. It's just a matter of when."_ He moved his hands slowly as if he had forgotten most of his sign language.

Pope raised his eyebrows at him. Did Carlos really believe that? _"Where is your family anyway?"_ He asked without thinking.

Carlos blinked at him. As if the question confused him. In his cold, indifferent eyes, there was a hint of sadness. Which the bonobo was trying to suppress. Then, with shaking hands, he answered. _"Don't have any."_

* * *

"Caesar has a fever, likely from his infected wounds."

"Will he be alright?"

"I don't know." Ellie's face was flushed, she looked worn out. "I cleaned them and removed the bullet from one of them, and gave him medicine, but only time will tell if it was enough."

There was a heaviness in the air. One that no one could understand but knew where it came from. Koba, Rocket, and Tinker all had bandages on them from the attacks. Rocket had it worst of all, his still healing leg had been hurt in the confusion, and his head had a large, bruising bump on it. It was a miracle he didn't suffer a concussion.

Blue Eyes was the only ape that was pacing around the room. The news of his father's condition didn't give him much comfort. His distress mirrored everyone's.

"What about Ash and Dolly? Why did they attack their family members like that?"

"Some sibling Dolly is. The second she see's her brother, she tries to kill him." Koba growled deep in his throat as he frowned at Dreyfus. He wished he could rip that human's head off. "And there's Ash. Obviously, his parents didn't raise him right."

Derek had enough. "Dreyfus, go!" He pointed out the door. "Go patrol or something!"

"Hey, I'm just saying I don't think it's wise to trust animals who can't even trust each other!" Dreyfus shot back as he stomped off.

Tori sighed in annoyance. "One of these days, I swear I'm gonna knock that dumbo's teeth out." Upon noticing how tense he was, Tori reached over and held Koba's hand. The scarred bonobo didn't move, but he wrapped his fingers around her smaller ones.

"I don't think Ash and Dolly were attacking Tinker, Rocket, and Koba out of malice." Ellie took the capsule out of her pocket, the one Alex gave her. "This is E17. It was am injectable drug meant to treat Epilepsy, but it was recalled after it was proven to cause extreme violent behavior."

"You think they injected that into them?" Asked Foster, relieved to get back on the subject.

"Yes. Only, there's something else in the capsule other than the drug itself." Ellie put the capsule under the light, making its contents shine through. The capsule itself was clear with no color, but the liquid inside it was an ugly shade of orange. "The E17 is suppose to be clear like it's capsule. But this one isn't."

The humans and apes all looked at each other in stunned shock as the horror sunk in. If the E17 drug is suppose to be colorless, then…Then…

"It's been tampered with."

"Not just tampered, something else has been mixed in the drug. E17 doesn't make people attack their loved ones on its own."

"Will they recover?"

"I think so. I gave them both IV's to help their bodies flush out the serum."

The heaviness seemed to clear just enough for the apes and humans to breathe a little easier. They weren't out of the woods yet, but at least Caesar, Ash, and Dolly were back, and the group knew what was wrong with them. But there was still so much that they didn't know. If this is what they did to apes, what did they do to the humans? Were the others still alive? And why did these people take them in the first place?

"What happened to that soldier, anyway?" Asked Kempt after a while.

Foster and Luca, despite having chased that soldier, had come back empty-handed. "That son of a bitch didn't know how to shoot properly." Foster rolled his eyes at the memory. "He shot himself in the face when he got to the gates."

"Suicide?"

"Nope, pure stupidity."

How ironic. The bad guys send a soldier to cause mayhem, and he ends up shooting himself instead.

"What about the soldier we still have locked up? Who the heck is that guy anyway?"

"Dreyfus and I questioned him about the machine attack. He wouldn't say much." Said Derek.

"Maybe he'd know about what happened to the others. We should interrogate him about that." There were two people that Malcolm and the others knew that may help them figure this out. Alex and the soldier. But Alex was so traumatized from whatever he was put through, that no one dared to bring it up to him. And the soldier, being an actual member of the bad guys, would know everything. But how much would he reveal?

Suddenly, Dreyfus reappeared. His eyes seemed large behind his glasses. "Um, guys?"

Tori glared at him. "What do you want now, Doofus?" Koba said nothing but gave the human a hateful stare of his own.

Dreyfus ignored them both. "I found something…You guys may want to come see this." He turned around but had a thought and turned his head back. "And uh...Bring the apes too."

* * *

Children. Both human and ape. They filled the abandoned and decaying street as if it were a playground. Only none of these children were playing. The human children were all huddled together in a far corner. All had pale skin and dark hair and wore hospital gowns. Their eyes were locked on Malcolm, Derek, Dreyfus, Kempt, Ellie and Tori in a fearful gaze. The ape children acted much differently. The small chimps, orangutans, and bonobos were all looking at the ground. They reminded Maurice of the animals in the circus: doing nothing but waiting for an order, a demand, and do it without risking punishment. To complete the look, they all had old and recent wounds on their backs. Wounds that could only have come from a whip. The worst were the gorilla children. They looked at the human and Ape Council with eyes that held nothing but this cold, emptiness. It was like looking into the eyes of a corpse.

The children looked to be at various different ages. The youngest ones being toddlers and the oldest ones were teenagers. There were so many of them it was almost impossible to tell just how many there were. Malcolm counted twenty, but it looked like there could be well over a hundred of them. Among them, the group only recognized three of the children. Harper, the two-year-old who was one of the kidnapped humans. Her short, dirty blond hair and pink knitted sweater and light purple dress made her easy to spot. She was the only human child who didn't look scared. She walked freely, picking up rocks and looking them over before dropping them. She recognized the older humans and walked over to them. The other two were Pinto and Pepper, who immediately ran to the Ape Council the second they saw them. Just like Harper, the young orangutan and small gorilla were the only ape children who weren't looking at the ground or had that creepy gaze.

The only adult humans and apes looked at each other in mute shock. They had a pretty good idea where all these children came from. The real question was how did they all get here.

"My God." Ellie finally uttered after recovering from her shock. "How many did they..?" Her voice trailed off. She shook her head, tears building in her eyes. "..How could they do this?.."

"That's what I'd like to know." Said Foster.

Taking a chance, Malcolm took one step towards the children. An action which immediately got all of them to look at him. Even the orangutan, chimp and bonobo children looked at him. Most of them backed away, but some stayed where they stood. "Hey, it's alright. We're the good guys, you're safe now." He said in a gentle voice. He doubted his words could get them to trust him and the others, but maybe he could at least get them to feel safe.

The children stared at him. Then at the other adults. It felt like they were all taking them in. The human children eyeing Ellie, Dreyfus, Foster, Tori, Derek, and Kempt, while the ape children did the same with Maurice, Koba, Blue Eyes, Stone and Luca. Then, slowly, the human children came a little closer to them. Then the ape children. They still looked scared, but not that much. That seemed like a good sign.

Malcolm and Maurice glanced at each other. They knew what to do. Turning back to the crowd of children, Malcolm asked. "Where are your parents?" With Maurice signing the same question, in case the human was still intimidating to them.

To their surprise, the children had odd, mixed reactions to the question. Some looked at each other with questioning looks. A few of them were even asking each other what a parent was. Others, however, only recoiled and stared back at the ground. Silently weeping tears.

The two looked at the others with surprised eyes. This isn't good. What child doesn't understand what parents are? And if they do know…The group realized then and there that the question at hand wasn't _where_ the parents were, but rather _what happened_ to the parents.

"They don't. Have any." The voice belonged to a teenage gorilla, who was no older than Blue Eyes. "None. Of us. Do."

Now they were all looking at the young silverback who spoke. He was short, for a gorilla. Smaller than Luca, but still taller than a chimp or bonobo. His fur was a dull, grayish black and his eyes were as golden as acorns. He had old, fading scars on his wrists.

Before any of them could say anything, he began signing. _"Some of them were born in the base. Then taken away to be raised as slaves-or as donkeys. That's what they call the gorillas. Some are forced to watch them kill their families. Or are forced to do it themselves."_

What?! The apes and humans exchanged glances again, horrified by the young gorilla's statement. No one could be more shocked than Blue Eyes. His father's face flashed in his mind. He and his father barely saw eye to eye, but actually, kill him? The prince could never dream of such a thing.

 _"_ _Do they do this to all the children?"_ Maurice asked as soon as he could get his hands working again.

" _Just the apes. I don't know what they do to the humans."_

 _"_ _What is your name?"_

The silverback hesitated before answering. _"Cooper."_

* * *

The children were brought back to the quarantine area. They were all still frightened, but they calmed down when they saw apes roaming around freely and no soldiers in sight. Pinto and Pepper were returned to their families. When asked about Red and Winter, Pinto had quickly told them that they were both alive. Harper's parents had been killed during the kidnappings, so she stuck around with the group. The only child from the base that agreed to talk with them was Cooper. The group had split up into different groups: Luca and Foster went to the quarantine area to get the Gorilla Guard and some of the humans to form a guard system around the city, Ellie and Malcolm joined the healers to assist them to examine the children, Tori went back to the beach to get her tote and change out of her bathing suit into her regular clothes, Koba went to visit Dolly, Blue Eyes joined Cornelia to go see Caesar, and Maurice, Derek, and Kempt went to the building to talk with Cooper. Dreyfus went with them, but ultimately got left with Harper.

They didn't know where to start, so they started with the easiest ones. _"How did you and the other children get out?"_

 _"_ _Will and Preacher took us out of the base and brought us here. The colonel's plan was to send the three apes here and let them kill all the people they love but Will freed the boy and sent him here with them. Then he and Preacher freed the children."_ Cooper didn't know where Alex was kept at, but he knew the humans had to have been held somewhere in the base.

 _"_ _Who's Preacher?"_ Asked Maurice.

 _"_ _One of the rebels."_ When he noticed the surprised looks on their faces, he explained: _"Will is the leader of a band of rebels. They mostly consist with slaves or the colonel's personal servants, but some of the soldiers are part of it too. Preacher is one of them."_

 _"_ _There's a band of rebels in the base?"_ Rocket, who had insisted on joining them, felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe these rebels could help.

 _"_ _Yes. They don't agree with the colonel. They're planning mass escapes. Taking large numbers of slaves, servants, donkeys, humans, apes, and freeing them out here, in the city."_ He still doubted that the plan would work, but it worked when they freed the children, so maybe it could work again.

 _"_ _Their colonel?"_

 _"_ _He's the leader. A human they call Colonel McCullough."_

Kempt wrote the name down on a piece of paper.

 _"_ _Who are these people?"_

 _"_ _They call themselves Alpha-Omega."_

Derek's blood ran cold. He glanced at Dreyfus, who looked up from his notebook. He didn't see the signs, but he could tell by the look on Derek's face that they had got something. He nodded, indicating that they'd talk later and turned back to whatever he was doing.

Dreyfus was in the same room but was preoccupied with looking over his own notes. The fur from Carver's hand was in a ziplock bag in his notebook. He glared at the hairs as he tried to think of a way to collect and compare it with the hairs of other apes without anyone getting suspicious.

Suddenly, he felt something hit his foot. He looked down at the ground and saw a small ball. Derek had filled this building with old and forgotten objects, most of them were for the sake of making it feel more like a home or a sanctuary of sorts, but there were a few children's toys here and there.

He looked up and saw Harper standing there. She shyly eyed him, then the ball. Dreyfus chuckled and gently pushed the ball in her direction. The ball was one of those plastic, air balls that use to be stored in elastic cages in markets. It was hard to tell if it's faded green color was due to age or if it was colored that way.

Harper bent down and caught the ball with her hands. She smiled up at the older human and sat down on the floor, pushing the ball back towards him. Wanting to play.

Dreyfus smiled at her. Putting his notebook down, he sat down on the floor and returned the ball to her. As they played, Dreyfus couldn't help but remember the old days. Back when his boys were her age. Back when he had a family, and they played like this.

 _"_ _Could they help us?"_

 _"_ _Yes, and they want to."_

Kempt picked up a pencil and a scrap of paper. _"Do you know any of them?"_ Derek was relieved to see that his sign language wasn't as rusty as he thought it was.

 _"_ _A few of them. Tanoddah, Cortez, Rowena, Hazell, and Milo. Tanoddah and Cortez are gorillas, Rowena is an orangutan and Hazell and Milo are chimps. Will and Preacher are the only human rebels I know of."_ Cooper cursed himself for not asking Tanoddah for more information but at the time, he had believed the plan wouldn't work so he refused to pay any attention.

 _"_ _Do you know anyone else? They don't even have to be rebels, just people you know that are in the base."_ Maurice asked curiously.

Only one name came to Cooper's mind. _"Carlos. He's the servant the colonel has had the longest."_

Derek paused when he heard the familiar name. Carlos? As in, the Carlos that was the last ape to go missing ten years ago? Damn, he would be forty-two by now. Can bonobos even live that long? Just to make sure, he asked. _"Is Carlos a bonobo?"_

Cooper blinked, surprised by the question. _"Yes, actually."_ He tilted his head. _"How did you know?"_

Just then, one of the humans who was hired to read through the files appeared. "Excuse me, Derek?"

Derek got up from his seat. _"Continue without me."_ He signed to Maurice and Rocket, not wanting this to interrupt anything. To the human, a short woman named Liana, he asked. "What is it?"

"I think I found something," Liana replied. "Remember when you said to list all apes who have any interaction or relation to the apes in the files?"

"Yes." Derek had instructed all the survivors who were reading the files to list any and all apes, humans, and locations named or listed in the ape's files.

Liana flipped open the file she had brought with her. "I was reading through Carlos's file and I found this." She looked through the papers until she found the document and showed it to him. "I think I found the name of someone in your team in there."

Derek held the file with one hand, reading through the document. His eyes immediately winded when he read the name. He thanked Liana and turned to Dreyfus. "Dreyfus, go get Koba."

Dreyfus glanced at Derek, a little annoyed that he'd have to abandon his little game with Harper. "Why?"

"Just go get him." Derek tried not to raise his voice, but what he was looking at was just something he didn't expect.

Dreyfus sighed and got up. He bent down to Harper's level and said. "I'll be back in a minute. Stay here with Derek, ok?"

"Ok." The little girl squeaked. With that, Dreyfus went out the door.

Derek kept his eyes on the document. According to the paper, Carlos had been a breading ape since the moment he was of age but he had only bread with female bonobos when his owner needed the money. The paper listed all the names of females he had ever mated with, who they belonged to, how many children he had fathered with them, and the names of each child. There were several names on that last, two of which that Derek knew belonged to two other bonobos who had been kidnapped. But it was the other two names that stuck out the most.

 ** _Name:_** ** _Dolly and Koba (Twins)_**

 ** _Gender:_** ** _F (Dolly). M (Koba)_**

 ** _DOB:_** ** _August 15th, 2000_**

 ** _Name of mother:_** ** _Tina_**

At the time, Derek didn't think anything of sending Dreyfus out to get Koba. But had he known what would happen next, he would have done it himself.

* * *

Caesar felt as if he were floating. The soft surface he was laying on cradled every muscle of his aching body and the warm thing over him warmed him. For a moment, Caesar thought he was back home. In the Rodman house. And Caesar almost wished that he truly were back there. Sure it would mean that he never freed the apes, never met Cornelia, and Blue Eyes and Cornelius didn't exist, but even Caesar had his moments where he missed being ignorant of the humans darker side. All he had to do back then was play, eat cookies, and be safely tucked into his bed with the warmth of his blanket covering him…And being with Will and Charles. It was wrong to wish that none of what he created had happened, but it was so much more easier to pretend the past never died than face a painful present or an unknown future.

He reached over and was about to start itching his wounds when a gentle hand took hold of it instead. Preventing him from scratching at the irritated skin. He opened his eyes and saw Cornelia sitting by his side, Blue Eyes too.

Caesar blinked at them, trying to figure out if they were real or just another figment of his imagination.

 _Real._ Caesar got his answer when Cornelia leaned in and nuzzled her face to his. Her scent, the feeling of her fur against his skin. She was real. And if she's real, then Blue Eyes must be real too.

"C..Cornelia..B-Blue Eyes.." His voice reflected just how tired he felt. But the relief and happiness he also felt at being reunited with his family were unmistakable.

Tears filled up the prince's eyes as he joined his mother in nuzzling Caesar. With his father finally back, the city suddenly felt safer and everything seemed ok again. Blue Eyes knew the danger was still there, and the bad humans could attack again, but he felt better about it knowing his father could help protect them.

"Caesar.." Cornelia was choked with tears herself. _"We were so scared. We thought we'd never see you again."_

 _"_ _I missed you. Both of you."_ Caesar allowed the tears to roll freely from his eyes. His fevered wish to be back in the past was now forgotten. All he wanted now was to be with his family. They snuggled like that for a while, crying happy tears, hugging and just enjoying each other's company as Caesar's strength slowly returned to him. _"Where's Cornelius?"_ He asked after a while.

 _"_ _With Tinker. I'll bring him to you later."_ Said Cornelia. Safe. All the members of his family were safe.

 _"_ _How has the colony been since I was gone?"_ Caesar had kept the colony the furthest from his mind. His focus was primarily on his family. Only now did he allow himself to think of the other apes.

 _"_ _Everyone's been fine."_ Blue Eyes answered. _"The council has joined the humans to help find you and the others. We may even stop the bad humans together."_ Blue Eyes thought back to the machine attack and how they worked together to stop those soldiers. What would his father think of that? Humans and apes uniting to defeat an even greater enemy?

Caesar smiled at his son's words. It seems that since he had been gone, the two colonies had a temporal truce between them. _Maybe now there will be peace._ Thinking about the colony made him think of Ash and Dolly. Where were those two? Were they alright?

 _"_ _What about Ash? Or Dolly?"_ He asked.

Cornelia indicated with a nod to the bed next to Caesar's. _"Ash is right there."_ Caesar looked to his left and realized they were in a human infirmary. Ellie and Malcolm were at the far end of the room, too deep in a conversation to notice that the Ape King was awake. Just as Cornelia had said, Ash laid in a deep sleep in a bed. A long, metal pole stood next to him with a bag filled with clear liquid and a long, small tube running down and ending right into the teenager's arm, in his vain. Tinker stood next to the unconscious boy. One hand holding her son's hand while the other held Cornelius. She had bandages all over her bruised face which got damp from her tears.

"Was Caesar injected with the serum too?" Malcolm asked. He and Ellie had been busy examining each and every wound and scar on the children from the escape. They had finally found enough time to actually talk to each other.

"I think so, but for some reason, it didn't affect him like it did with Ash and Dolly. My guess is, his body was so busy fighting the infection, that the serum didn't absorb properly."

"So..He's fine?"

Ellie thought it over before answering. "I think so...But we should watch him anyway, just to be on the safe side." She then glanced back at the room they just came from, where all the children were now.

Malcolm knew what she was thinking about. "Ellie?"

She sighed and looked back at her husband. "Malcolm, most of those children have known no other life other than slavery and abuse. Even if they start new lives, I don't think they'll ever fully recover from this."

Malcolm couldn't imagine what the children had to go through and frankly, part of him didn't want to. Despite all that has happened, Malcolm found that there was some part of him that still believed there was goodness in everyone. Even in those who have done wrong. But the children, whatever they went through, proved otherwise. As much as he didn't want to, he had to accept that some people were capable of unspeakable things. Forcing children to kill their own families was definitely one of them.

"I know." He took Ellie's hand in his only good one. "But they're all safe. They're surrounded by humans and apes who do care. It may seem bleak now, but someday they'll heal. All wounds heal eventually."

Ellie nodded, hoping he was right. The fear still in her eyes. How far are they willing to go to hurt the apes and other humans?

Caesar's eyes suddenly landed on where Dolly was. The female bonobo was in the bed across from him. Just like Ash, her arm had a small tube attached to a bag that hung from a pole next to the bed…And sitting next to her was the very ape that could have killed him..The one who had haunted his dreams for days..Koba. His nostrils flared as he looked at them. The anger and the betrayal building itself in Caesar's chest. Koba, his honorary brother and one of his closest friends...Had tried to kill him! He thought he heard Cornelia say something, but he didn't hear her. Caesar didn't even feel himself get out of the bed.

Koba, unaware of the storm brewing inside of Caesar, was very still as he sat next to his still unconscious sister. His gaze followed every mark on her face. The scar down her lips, the one across her forehead, and the one that was next to her eye. Dolly got these scars from Tommy, from all the times she tried to protect him from the abusive human. The one on her forehead was the scariest. She got that one when Tommy burned Koba's eye with the cigarette. Dolly had somehow summoned enough strength to break out of her cage and attacked Tommy, who cut her head with the same knife he used to cute Koba's face. It ended with Dolly being handcuffed and put in the closet.

With a trembling hand, Koba picked up his twin's hand and held it up to his cheek. Remembering all the times Dolly had protected him. Other apes were almost never there for him, not even Caesar, but Dolly always was. In a way, Dolly had become more than just his twin sister, she had also become Koba's protector.

…She had was always the one who kept him safe...The one who'd never let anything happen to him if she had a say in it...And that night, the night of the kidnappings, she was the one who needed protection. She was the one in danger…And Koba did nothing to help her...

 _I'm sorry..!_ His mind screamed as he inhaled slowly. Hoping he won't start crying again. Not in front of the others. _I'm so sorry, Dolly..._ If he had known what was going to happen, he never would have stolen that gun. He would have stayed by Dolly's side and try to keep her with him. He could have saved her.

"..Come back...To me...Dolly.." He whispered in a barely audible whisper as he barely suppressed a single tear from falling from his eye.

Just then, before Koba knew what was happening, something grabbed him and threw him into the empty bed next to them. Dropping Dolly's hand in the process. He whirled around to see his attacker but found himself on the ground instead. The assailant held him down, angry hands pinning him to the hard floor.

Caesar's enraged eyes glared back down at him.

"Caesar!" The voice was Malcolm's, he and Ellie had rushed over to them. Caesar had snuck up from behind Koba and attacked him. Despite his fever, the Ape King was just as strong as ever. Tinker, Cornelia, Blue Eyes and the two humans only stared at the two, horrified by Caesar's sudden actions.

But it was what Caesar said that really shocked them.

"Y-You! Tried to! Kill me! You tried to kill me!" Caesar kept repeating those words, his voice becoming strained from how much energy he was using.

Of course, why didn't he see this coming? Koba knew he should have known that if Caesar survived, he'd immediately turn on him for the attempt to murder him. The scarred bonobo laid still, not daring himself to speak and letting the Ape King rant on.

"Caesar." Ellie tried to reason with him. "It was just a fever dream. Koba didn't do anything to you-"

"Yes, he did!" Caesar yelled, so loudly it woke Cornelius up. "He! Stole gun! Try to! Kill me!"

No one noticed that Dreyfus had appeared. He had came right at that moment. He didn't know what was happening, but when Caesar mentioned the stolen gun, he immediately knew what he was talking about.

"Caesar, please just let him go. He's not going to do anything, just let him go." Pleaded Malcolm.

Caesar, reluctantly, loosened his grip on the scarred bonobo. His body tired from the exertion of attacking him and holding him to the ground. He kept his eyes on Koba, though. "Trusted Koba, like brother!" He growled at the now standing bonobo.

Koba snorted at him. "Caesar brother to humans." He muttered, turning his back on the other ape. Not wanting to fight him when the Ape King was so sick.

"Koba weak!" Caesar yelled. "Koba is nothing! Has nothing! Means nothing!" The anger was inescapable. The Ape King felt hot all over, due to fever or his own anger he could not say.

Every bitting word hit Koba like a punch. He wanted to leave, go somewhere so far from this room, that Caesar's voice couldn't reach him.

"Koba coward! Koba thinks only for Koba!" The insults were getting worse. The two humans and three apes tried to stop Caesar before he went too far, but the Ape King was too deep in his rage to hear them.

Koba felt like he was crumbling on the inside. _Is that really me?_ He was about to do just that, he was ready to turn away and walk out the room and out of the building. Find sanctuary somewhere else.

But then...

"Koba belong in cage!"

It was as if the words were a curse. The room went silent and time seemed to have stopped. Koba was frozen, blinking in disbelief. He looked at Caesar with a shocked, speechless look.

"What..?"

Caesar got closer to Koba, so close that their noses were just inches from each other. "Never...Should have..Freed you.."

Koba recoiled, the shock melting to hurt.

"Caesar…!" Cornelia couldn't believe her husband had just said something so horrible to another ape. Let alone to Koba. Tinker joined her queen and best friend's side, unsure of what to do.

Blue Eyes got in between the two adults, trying to keep his father from Koba. The teen looked just as shocked as his mother. When he looked at Caesar, the look on his face was more of confusion than anger.

Malcolm and Ellie looked at each other. Neither of them knew what to do to defuse the situation and felt helpless.

Dreyfus hardly dared himself to breathe, out of fear that if did he'd miss something. He continued to hide in the doorway. Waiting for something to happen.

Koba silently thought back on his past plans and schemes. From the moment he chose not to tell Caesar about the guns, to the second he pointed one at him. Did they really reflect who he was deep inside? Was he really a monster meant to be locked away in a cage forever? He had tried to kill Caesar, take a father and husband from his family, and start a war with the humans. If it wasn't for the bad humans interrupting his plans, he would have imprisoned the humans in the city by now. Or worse, kill them all. He never would have met Tori, and never had known how much alike she and he were. A pit formed in his throat and his stomach tied itself into knots. He _was_ a monster…A selfish, evil monster…

"..It's true.."

Blue Eyes turned his head, unsure if he heard his uncle right. "What?" Caesar just kept his gaze locked on the scarred bonobo, not impressed with his confession at all. Cornelia, Tinker, Malcolm, and Ellie just looked at Koba in mute shock.

Dreyfus' eyes grew wide. This is even better than collecting ape hair!

Koba looked up at the group, too ashamed to look them in the eyes. "Koba...Stole gun...Try to kill Caesar…Blame it on humans…Start war…Get revenge…"

Cornelia gasped, hugging Tinker for support. Tinker looked just as horrified as the queen. Blue Eyes, now facing Koba, backed away from him. Too overwhelmed to speak. Malcolm and Ellie stared at him in disbelief.

"Koba.." Malcolm was about to say something when Dreyfus suddenly appeared and practically through a wire attached to a pole over the bonobo's head and on his neck. It was the same sort of animal catcher pole that dog catchers use to use to catch dogs, only with a larger wire. Dreyfus would have used something different, but this was just what he could find in in the infirmary building.

"You're coming with me, you stinken' ape!"

"Dreyfus, what the hell are you doing?!"

"Placing this bastard under arrest for gun theft and attempted murder, that's what!"

Koba, despite not expecting a wire to suddenly get wrapped around his neck, didn't resist or make any attempt to get the hard thing off. Whatever the human planned to do with him, he'll allow it, he didn't have the heart to fight it.

Blue Eyes glanced at his parents and honorary aunt. His gaze pleading with them to do something. But Cornelia and Tinker were still in too much shock to try and step in and when Blue Eyes looked at his father, Caesar only shook his head at him. Despite his fever catching up to him, Caesar had just enough strength in him to say four last words.

"He...Is…Not ape."

* * *

 **A's/N: (exploding on the inside)...Guys, get ready for some MAYJOR Kobaness!**

 **Oh gosh, where do I start?! Uggghhhh! XD So...Yes, Preacher IS a good guy in the story! He and Will are, yes, part of a band of rebels in the base who want to stop the colonel (Did anyone guess it was Colonel McCullough and Alpha-Omega who were behind this?!) which has Milo as a member (I guess that answers your question as to where that chimp is, huh BeetZel?). Not sure how I'm going to make him appear yet, but he is yet to make an appearance.**

 **And we meet new OC's!**

 **Cortez, Hazell, Rowena, and Carlos! (do I dare repeat what you guys just learned about him?!...Now about this 'Tina'...) And just so ya know, Hazell's name is pronounced huh-Zelle (the name is Gale's mother's name from The Hunger Games) and secondly, Hazell herself has a minor role, but...Ya may want to pay some attention to her..Particularly, her child...Oh, and also Harper! (let's just say that Dreyfus is going to change his mind soon!) Meanwhile, Cooper is now part of the team! And based on MeZaki93's advise, Tanoddah's role may be extended!**

 **Again, sorry for the extra long chapter! I hope you guys didn't get bored yet, cause the adorableness is about to start! (though we may have to experience something emotional first...)**

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


	10. True Colors

**A's/N: YIPEEEE! ANOTHER CHAPTER! :D Hey, I just noticed this story has twenty-four Reviews so far! XD Thanks, guys!**

 **I think I mentioned this before, but I am hoping to do a Christmas themed chapter soon so that's part of the reason why the chapters are suddenly so long. XD I'm just hoping to get started on it and study enough for my last college final (yep, it's that time of the year again!) for the semester. I will be busy next week, so hopefully, I'll be able to update this story again soon.**

 **Now for the warnings...**

 **The following chapter contains harsh/sensitive material such as self-harm/suicide, mentions violence, spaying, foul language and you may feel the need to hug Koba after reading it.**

 **Enjoy the chapter everyone! You're all about to go on an emotional rollercoaster ride!**

* * *

"You did, what?!"

"He confessed to a crime! What was I suppose to do!"

"Forgive him! That's what!" Foster's face was red with anger.

Word had spread quickly in the group what had happened in the infirmary. Malcolm, Ellie, Blue Eyes, Luca, Stone, Rocket, and Maurice were now confronting Dreyfus, none of them were happy with him arresting Koba. Derek and Kempt appeared at that moment. Malcolm hoped the former FBI profiler could talk some sense into Dreyfus, maybe convince him to let Koba go. But in his heart, he knew it wouldn't be that simple. Kempt was fuming, he said nothing but frowned at Dreyfus. Derek, however, looked at the mayor with a calm expression, but the anger was still there.

"So, Dreyfus.." He started. "You arrested Koba. On what charges?"

"Attempt of murder and gun theft!" The pride in his face was irritating. "I told you the apes can't be trusted! That ugly fur ball was going to start a war and kill all the humans! The apes should be thrown out of the city immediately!"

"Dreyfus!" Ellie couldn't believe he was going that far.

"Apes! Innocent!" Blue Eyes protested. Luca, Maurice, Stone, and Rocket were now frowning at the human.

Despite the arguing, Derek's face remained calm and unimpressed. "I hear he confessed to doing this." He chose his words carefully, silencing the others. "Did he mention any other apes?"

"No." The question caught Dreyfus off guard.

"Then how do you know the other apes were involved?" Derek knew by now that Dreyfus wasn't going to let Koba off the hook so easily but if he could prove that the ape colony were truly innocent, then he'd leave them alone. "From what I've heard, it sounds like all you have is an ape with a confession and the would-be murder weapon-"

"Oh, that's not all I got!" Dreyfus grabbed his notebook and pulled out the ziplock bag that contained the hairs, surprising the others. "I found these ape hairs in Carver's hand! If I'm right and these are his, then that bastard killed Carver! Possibly McVeigh and Terry too!"

"Don't tell me you're going to try and charge him with actual murder now!" Protested Malcolm.

"That's exactly what I intend to do!"

Just then, Tori rushed in. Her pink hair flew freely, no longer in their usual ponytails. She grabbed Dreyfus and shoved him against the wall. "You moron! Are you nuts?!"

"Get your hands off me, Victoria or I swear I'll arrest you next!"

"Shut up!" Tori's eyes were jet black. She looked angry enough to bite the other human's face off. "I get you had a reason to arrest him, but why the hell would you lock him up with _him_?!"

"Tori, what are you talking about-?"

Tori whirled around so fast that her hair slapped Dreyfus in the face. "He locked Koba up in a cell in the jail of the old Police Department!"

Malcolm's eyes went wide. "That's where the soldier is!"

The apes began hooting angrily, Luca debated whether or not to go to the Police Department and get Koba out of there himself, Maurice glared at Dreyfus, Stone and Rocket were hissing at him. The only one who was silent was Blue Eyes, who was still recovering from the shock that his honorary uncle had tried to kill his father.

"Dreyfus, tell me you did not put Koba in the same cell as that scumbag!" For the first time, Derek had fear in his eyes.

Dreyfus snorted at them. "Do you really think I'd be that cruel? No, he's in the one across from him." He shoved Tori off of him. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I have a case to make." He said as he turned to leave.

"You're not going to get away with this!" Tori shouted after him, even though he did not respond.

With Dreyfus gone, Derek touched his head. Sighing to himself. "It's my fault he arrested Koba, guys. I sent him out to get him so I could talk to him myself."

"Talk to him about what?" Asked Ellie, calming down just a little bit.

The apes, now silent, looked curiously at the human. Even Blue Eyes.

Derek still had the file in his hand. He flipped it open to the page. "It's Carlos. He was a breading ape and his file listed the names of the children he fathered." He showed them the page. "Koba and Dolly's names are listed on it."

A shocked silence fell in the group, taking in the news. It was like everyone knew what that those names on the document meant, but no one had the courage to say it out loud. As if speaking it meant entering a new, strange world. A world where the lost, become the found. Even if they were believed to be gone.

"..Koba's..F-Father?" Blue Eyes suddenly understood why Carlos' picture had haunted him so much. The bonobo's eyes were Koba's and Dolly's. Exactly the same shade of green. No wonder he kept going back to that picture.

"Yes." Said Derek. "I wanted to ask Koba for permission to look at his file and his sister's to confirm it."

"Is he still alive?"

"According to Cooper, he's a servant to Colonel McCullough. The leader of the people who kidnapped him and the others."

Ellie thought of something. "Wait a minute...Koba said he wanted to start a war so he could get revenge."

"So?" Asked Kempt, who had stayed quiet throughout the whole conversation.

"What if something happened to Koba that made him hate humans?" She turned to the apes. "I mean, you apes all have a reason to dislike us, but none of you want to start a war with us, right?"

The apes all nodded and huffed in reply. Maurice had seen his fair share of darkness in the humans, so had Luca and Rocket, and Blue Eyes had heard enough stories about the humans to know they could be dangerous, but none of them would use those bad experiences as an excuse to raise a weapon at a human who didn't create the bad memory, to begin with.

Koba's scars suddenly appeared in their minds. Just how did he get those scars? Even the other Ape Council members themselves didn't know the full story of what their friend had been through.

"We need to look at those files. Not just Koba's, but Dolly's too." Said, Malcolm. "Maybe there's something in there that could help us understand why Koba did what he did."

Derek knew Malcolm was right but still didn't want to risk losing what little trust Koba gave them just because they read his file without his permission. But then he remembered that Koba was placed in the cell across from the soldier's. Could it be possible to interrogate that solider and get Koba's permission at the same time?

"I think I know what to do. Malcolm, you and I are going to talk to Koba, Luca, and Foster? You two get that soldier out of the cell and into the interrogation room."

Luca looked at Blue Eyes, who nodded.

"What's the soldier got to with any of this?"

"Cooper revealed some information about these people," Derek explained to Foster. "They call themselves Alpha Omega."

* * *

 _Koba belong in cage._ The cold, dark cell was as close to a cage as Koba had gotten in the last ten years. The cement floor had a long, jagged crack in it, the wall was white bricked with some chips in the paint. The small cell consisted of a rusted toilet (which Koba steered clear of!), an old sink and an old bed with a yellowed, old pillow and sheet under a rag of a blanket. Koba was in the far left corner of the cell. Back leaning against the bed. Head down.

Caesar's words haunted him. Koba had never felt so alone before, it was as if his world had closed in on him. As if his life was crashing down all around him and there was nothing he could do about it. _I am alone._ He realized. Dolly was in no condition to help him, and he didn't expect Blue Eyes and the others to want to do anything for him either. Why would they? If his plan had gone without any interruptions, Caesar would be dead by now…And so would most, if not all, the humans in the city.

"Hey, I know you!" The soldier from across the jail room suddenly said. "You're the one with the blind eye and scarred face! The one that saved the pink headed girl from that ceiling tile-" The second he mentioned Tori, Koba lunged at the cell wall.

"Don't! You! Dare! Speak of Tori!" Just hearing the human describe her made Koba's blood boil.

The solider only mockingly laughed at him. "What's the matter? A little protective of your girlfriend? What are you in for anyway?"

Koba growled at him, turning away from the solider. He hoped he could ignore him, but the soldier's voice echoed in the jail, and he just kept going. "I bet you did something really bad, did you? You ugly son of a bitch. You're just a bad, little monkey are you? Come on, tell me! What did you do?"

 _It's not what I did._ Koba answered in his mind. _It's what I almost did._ He kept the words to himself, not wanting this despicable human know anything about him. It was humans like him that had turned Dolly, his beloved sister, and Ash into bloodthirsty would-be killers and forced innocent children to murder their families. This human wasn't worth talking to.

"You know what ya do when you have a problem?" The solider would not give up. Though now his voice took a new, darker tone. "You end it. And the way to end it is to end yourself."

Koba frowned at the floor. What the heck was he talking about?

"Think about it, ape head." The soldier continued on. "You're all alone here, no one cares about you, everyone hates you. Why should you exist if no one wants you around? I bet all your friends and family has abandoned you. No one would miss you if you were gone."

 _He's right._ The voice in his head didn't feel like his own, but Koba let it speak anyways. What would Dolly think when she finds out about his schemes? Would she reject him as her brother? Caesar had already rejected him as an ape, but Koba would be lost without his twin sister. He could already imagine the anger and the disappointment in Dolly's face when she finds out what her twin brother had been up to. If he lost her, he'd have no one. _What if I already lost her?_ He suddenly missed his sister's company.

Suddenly, Foster and Luca appeared. They unlocked the soldier's cell door and took him out. "Let's go, more questions for you A-hole." Said, Foster, as they did. Koba didn't know that Derek and Malcolm were there until the older human said his name. "Koba."

The scarred bonobo didn't feel like talking. He kept his gaze at the floor, ignoring the two humans.

"Koba, we want to help you out of this-"

"Can't," Koba muttered. _"I did this to myself. There is no getting out of it."_ He signed.

As horrible as it was, it was the truth. Even if he worked his hardest, Derek knew he couldn't do much for Koba. The best he could do was work on his defense, but he had a feeling that wasn't going to be easy. "We know." He replied. "But we're going to try anyway."

Koba huffed at his words, not meeting his gaze. He just couldn't bring himself to face a human who could have very easily have been one of his victims.

"Malcolm and I came to ask for your permission to read your file and Dolly's file. I know you still don't trust-"

"Don't care anymore." It no longer mattered to Koba that his past was going to be exposed to the humans. Tori had already seen his vulnerable side and Caesar showed everyone just how monstrous he was deep down. "Humans do whatever humans want..Just. Leave. Koba alone." With that, he turned his back to the two humans. Hoping they'd take the hint and leave.

Derek sighed, knowing they weren't going to get anything more out of him. He looked up at Malcolm, who nodded. With that, Derek stood up and left. Leaving Malcolm with Koba. The other human squatted down at the ground like Derek had and looked at the scarred bonobo.

"Koba?…You don't have to answer me, just listen." This was the first time since Caesar's verbal assault that the two had been able to talk to each other. Koba tensed up, waiting for whatever to come. "…What you did..What you tried to do...Was wrong. We both know that…But it's also not who you are."

Stupid human, what does he know? Despite trying his hardest to ignore him, Koba found himself unable to pull away from the voice. He was listening, no matter how hard he tried not to.

Malcolm knew better than to press him to listen. He just hoped that the bonobo was hearing him. "I mean, sure, you didn't like me and my group being in the ape village and working on the dam, and Caesar ignored you. I get it, you got mad and..I don't know, maybe your anger is from...Whatever happened to you. But the point is, I don't think you're a bad person deep down inside."

Surprised by Malcolm's words, Koba turned his head and looked at the human. He wasn't lying, the look on Malcolm's face was as gentle as a breeze and held truth.

"I know because you took that ceiling tile for Tori when you could have let it hit her. I don't know if you did it on purpose, or if it was just a reflex, but you still did it." It was nice to see Koba's face again, but it hurt Malcolm to see him like this. "And you helped us stop the machine attacks. That could have killed everyone, including all the humans in the city. But you helped stop it anyway. That has to mean something."

Koba stayed silent. He _did_ do those things. No one told him to, but he did. Didn't he also save Caesar and Blue Eyes from a grizzly bear days earlier? Did that even count? Koba looked down at his hands, the very hands he used to kill, to steal, and fight with. Were these hands capable of doing good just as easily?

"We all still care about you, Koba." Said Malcolm, making Koba look back up at him. "I don't care what Dreyfus says, none of us do. You're still on our team and we want you back."

The scarred bonobo didn't know what to say. How could Malcolm say that? Especially since they both knew that if it wasn't for the bad humans, Koba could have killed them all. Still, the words touched him, and Koba held on to them like a child hangs on to their mother.

"But Caesar.." His voice shook as he said his leader's name. He desperately tried to keep it together.

"Caesar deserved to be mad, but I don't think he meant what he said." Malcolm was still in disbelief over the whole scene in the infirmary. "You saw how sick he is, he must have gone for days without sleep or something."

Neither wanted to think of what kind of suffering Caesar went through by the hands of his kidnappers but based on how he looked when he limped over to them hours ago, they had a pretty good idea. And they had a feeling Caesar wasn't just sleep deprived. In some ways, his condition was even worse than Ash and Dolly's. If Caesar's harsh words earlier were the result of delusion brought on by fever, than he couldn't have meant it. But it didn't make them any less hurtful. _Never should have freed you_ Koba wrapped his hand around one of the bars of his cell, those words still weighing heavily on his shoulders.

He flinched when he felt a human hand wrap around his. When he looked back, he saw that his hand was now engulfed in Malcolm's.

"I forgive you, Koba. I want you to know that."

Koba's milky and green eyes met the human's own greenish blue ones. The scarred bonobo didn't know what he was searching for in those eyes, but all he found was a gentle gaze that was filled with sincerity. Malcolm was telling the truth. He felt numb, unsure of how else to feel. He doubted anyone would forgive him, but Malcolm was definitely the last person he'd expect it from. He was human after all, and humans never see apes as anything more but animals. _Caesar was right..._ He thought to himself. _Maybe there are good humans…And he's one of them...The others too..._

"Malcolm." Of course. Dreyfus stood at the entrance of the jail, his glare intensified by his glasses.

Malcolm sighed, he didn't want to leave Koba by himself in that cell but knew he had no choice. The others needed him, and if he stayed here Dreyfus may only make it worse for him or for Koba. He looked at the scarred bonobo with worry in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I have to go now but I'll come back. If not me, then one of the others will." He gave the ape's hand a gentle squeeze. "Be strong, Koba."

Koba nodded, though he wondered just how strong he could be right now. He certainly didn't feel strong.

He was surprised to feel sad when Malcolm left. His company was nice and it did comfort him when it was there. Koba's hand suddenly felt cold without the human's hand to warm it.

"Don't get your hopes up, traitor." Dreyfus' voice was like ice. So cold, it was painful. "Even if they find anything remotely interesting in your file, it won't be enough to excuse your actions."

"That's. Not. What. They're doing." Koba replied with a frown.

"Don't talk back to me, you stupid animal!" Dreyfus shouted. "Derek is a fool. They all are. They think they can save you, they think you're worth saving, but you're not worth anything!"

Koba backed away from the cell wall, suddenly feeling grateful for the protection the cell gave.

"Your leader was right," Dreyfus said in a more calmer voice. "You're nothing." With that, he left. But his words echoed on in the silence.

The scarred bonobo sunk back in his spot, bringing his knees to his chest and hugging himself. Koba had never been so confused in his life. In one day he had gone from hating the humans, to not sure about them, from finally being free to leave the file room building, to being a prisoner in a jail, from hating Tori, to feeling safe around her, from plotting revenge against the humans and wanting to kill Caesar, to questioning his own actions and regretting them. And, despite everything, he found himself going from homicidal, to actually considering suicide. He didn't mean to let his mind go there, but he just couldn't ignore what Caesar had said to him...Even Dreyfus seemed to agree with him!

 _Koba belong in cage! Never should have freed you!_ Caesar once again haunted his mind.

 _I'm in a cage now...I may never come out again..._ He argued with it in his mind.

 _Koba coward! Koba weak! Koba thinks only for Koba!_

 _I'll admit to everything I did…They'll know everything..No more secrets, no more lies..._

 _Koba is nothing! Has nothing! Means nothing!_

 _…_ _I have Derek…And Malcolm and the others…They want to help me...They still care…_ For a moment, Koba allowed himself to feel some hope. Maybe it's not the end, maybe he still had a chance. If Malcolm was right, and he really did have some good in him, then maybe he can change.

 _Do you really?_ Koba suddenly found himself second-guessing. _How do you know you could change? You're a monster. That's all you are and that's all you ever will be!_

Koba looked up at the ceiling. Where he noticed a long, thick, pole ran across it. It was one of those poles that ran under the ceiling, possibly to help hold it up.

 _No one would miss you if you were gone..._ The words of the soldier suddenly made sense. He thought of Dolly, of his loving and protective sister. The one ape who had stood by him for most of his life. The only person Koba knew of who'd sacrifice so much of herself to protect him. _Maybe she'd be better off without me..._

He felt the burning in his eyes as the tears ran from them. He buried his face in his knees. This time, he let his emotions go. He didn't make any attempt to hide them. In the loneliness of the jail, he knew no one would see him cry…And no one would hear his sobs.

 _I am nothing…_

* * *

"So you're an Alpha-Omega soldier, are you?"

The soldier smirked at Derek's question. "Yes, I am." He actually seemed proud of it.

Derek had seen many guys like this before. People who committed crimes would either admit to doing it but try to find an excuse for their actions, and some would deny it all together. But there are a few who'd be proud of whatever they did and want to brag about it. This man was definitely that.

"What can you tell me about them? Last I heard of you, most of you fled and those who stuck behind either died in the fighting or by the virus."

"True. We did." The soldier was only too happy to tell him. "Our Colonel, the almighty, decided to divide us into two groups. Half of us go and find a place for us to build our kingdom while the others, the most purest of us, stayed to finish off the weak."

"You mean to kill innocent people who did nothing to you?"

"They existed! That's what made them impure!"

"Ah, but you see, no one has control over that. Not even your 'almighty' can completely erase a person from the world. Something is always left behind in their memory."

"Maybe not, but he can control who deserves to live and who must die."

They were getting off topic. Derek composed himself, trying not to lose it in front of this madman. "What can you tell me about your leader?" He asked instead. "Why is he ordering you to take apes and other survivors away?"

"He's going to deliver us." The soldier spoke of McCullough as if he were a god. "He's going to free us, rid us of the scourge known as the apes, destroy the weak so the strong can prosper, and reclaim the world." He chuckled at the older man. "I'm surprised you lot are working with those filthy beasts, maybe you all have already lost your humanity."

Derek raised an eyebrow at him. "What does humanity have to do with any of this?"

"Of being human. Of acting and staying human." The soldier answered. "You may not realize it yet, but you'll lose what makes you human. Pretty soon, none of you will be mankind. None of you will be people. You'll all be equal to animals."

Foster and Luca, from the other room, looked at each other. The mirror in the interrogation room was a secret window for the room the human and gorilla were in. The two were watching and listening to the entire conversation. Neither of them had any idea what the soldier was talking about.

Derek was not impressed by his words. If anything, they just made him despise the man, and all he stood for, much more. "Humanity also means kindness." He said slowly. "Of showing mercy and compassion to others regardless of how different they are. Of sharing goodness and understanding with love and sympathy. Even to those who have done wrong." He frowned at him. "Something you and your 'almighty leader' and the other Alpha-Omega people have proven themselves incapable of."

The soldier rolled his eyes at Derek's words. "As if that means anything."

"Oh yes, it does." Derek was not going to let this man off the hook. "The apes may resent us humans for all the wrong we did to them, but they would never force human children to kill their parents. Or turn humans against their friends and families. Or abuse their own kind." A thought ran itself in his mind. "You know what I think? I think you Alpha-Omegas are afraid the apes are more human than we are." He leaned in closer just by a few inches. "And you know what else? They are. They're more human than you, and your leader will ever be."

That did it. The soldier lunged at him-or at least, he tried to. If not for the handcuffs attaching him to the table, the man would have tried to kill him.

Derek waited until the soldier settled down before talking again. "Now then, care to tell me anything else?"

The soldier, still snarling at him, only glared at Derek. The hate burned in his eyes like a wildfire.

"Fine then." Derek decided to ask something else. A question that hadn't been asked yet, and one that he was dying to know the answer to. "What your name?"

The other man breathed inwardly. Derek suddenly realized how young he was. He had to be in his late twenties. Close to thirty. "..John.." He finally said. "John McCullough…Son of the Almighty…Mark my words…Your feeble attempts at peace will crumble all around you. There's a war coming, a storm brewing. And you're all going to be swept away."

Once outside of the interrogation room, Derek, Foster, and Luca regrouped. "Is he really the leader's son?" Asked Foster.

"I don't know, he could be bluffing." Derek found it hard to believe that McCullough would send his own son out on an attack involving machines, but then again this was the man who ordered to death of possibly thousands of apes, either by his hand or by someone else's. "I don't think we'll be able to get anything more out of him today though."

 _"_ _Shall we put him back in his cell?"_ Asked Luca.

"No. He may not be able to physically hurt him, but Koba is in a very fragile state right now. I don't want to risk leaving him alone with that man." Derek had a very bad feeling about the idea. Just the thought of having this 'John' feet away from a very emotionally unstable Koba, made him uneasy.

Foster glanced at the hallways, looking for Dreyfus. When he was reassured that the mayor wasn't there, he returned his gaze to Derek. "You know Dreyfus isn't going to like that right? What if he planned to use that room to question Koba?"

Derek already knew that was coming. Even if the fighting hasn't started yet, he prepared himself for the moment he and Dreyfus would fight over what to do with Koba and John. "If Dreyfus wants the room." He said as he took the keys to the interrogation room and locked the door. "He's going to have to get the keys first."

* * *

Lake hoped the shadows of sunset would hide her. The base was even scarier at night than it was in daylight. When it was daytime, the light made everyone, and everything, visible. But the long shadows from the buildings made it darker than normal so by nightfall, the base would be covered in a blanket of darkness so thick, that it made all who were inside completely invisible. Including the soldiers and the guards.

Andy and Lucky had begged her not to go out. They were convinced that she'd die if she were captured, but Lake was willing to take the risk if it meant freedom and if not, then at least a clue to what had happened to the others. She had glimpsed Pope, Dolly, Caesar, and Ash in the cell in the center of the slave cage, but never got the chance to talk to any of them and now it lay empty, with not a single soul in it. She had seen Red, Winter, and Pinto recently though, but the three were too far away and too preoccupied with surviving an attack by a deranged gorilla and Winter getting beat up by the soldiers to see her. And then there was Pepper, what did they do to that child?

She scanned her surroundings, often walking in circles. Taking slow, careful steps and not daring to blink. She could hear voices in the distance but saw no soldiers walking around. Once she got to the gate, she hesitated. Getting out of the pen was easy enough, all she had to do was climb out through the loose wire and logs, but the gate hummed with life.

 _That's not normal..._

She wasn't sure, but to test it out she took a weed and lightly tossed it at the gate. To her horror, the plant burned and turned black. It's corpse becoming crisp and stick-like. Lake wasn't sure if she should feel sorry for the now dead weed, or herself for needing to find a way to get through the gate without suffering the same fate.

Looking around, she realized there was nothing in or around the gate that any ape could climb on to get out. She had a feeling this was deliberate. They want to keep her and all the slaves inside.

 _Great._ She thought, sighing in frustration. _Now I have to plan this out all over again._

Suddenly, she heard footsteps. She didn't need to look to know it was the soldiers. She ran as quietly as she could as she ducked under a wheelbarrow. Hoping it could conceal her just as well as the shadows had. She watched as they walked over to the pen and opened it. They appeared to be searching for something. After a good two minutes, they came out with an ape, a female chimp who Lake had come to know as Dot.

"How are we going to do this?" Asked one of the soldiers. He was the one they called Preacher. He didn't scare Lake nearly as much as the others did, there was something about him that she found only comforting.

She never seen the other one though. "Same as before. Take as many as we can, put them in the helicopter and go."

"What if he gets suspicious? Last time it was easy because of his plan, but this time it's just us going out."

"We'll tell him we're going on patrol."

"With our helicopter?"

"Ok, I'll drive one and you can drive the other."

What were they talking about? Lake strained to listen and wished her ears were as big as a rabbit's.

Preacher bit the inside of his cheek. He looked nervous about something. "She's getting closer, Will." She? Who's she? "If we're going to get Hazell out of here, we need to do it now before she goes into labor."

"I know, Preacher." Will glanced around before looking back at him. He had a feeling they were being watched but could find no one around. "We just need to get our plan straight first and then we'll make the move."

This would be so much easier if it hadn't been nine months. But honestly? Will and Preacher didn't even know each other nine months ago. Back then, Will had been nothing more than a training soldier Training gorillas to be donkeys by day and trying to find a way to rebel by night. Meanwhile, Preacher was the McCullough's, right-hand man. His yes man. He did whatever the colonel wanted without thinking twice about it. But then he met Hazell, and suddenly his eyes were open and he realized the pain and the suffering he and the others were causing. He didn't know what he had done until she began showing... By the time the two men had finally met and found out that they both wanted change, it was too late to get Hazell out. Ape servants are rarely allowed to be alone, especially if they happen to be pregnant.

"What's the plan so far?" Preacher already knew, but hearing it again always gave him newfound hope that it could work.

"We get Hazell, Carlos, Dot and anyone else we can get into the helicopter, fly out, take them to the city, and come back without anyone noticing." Repeating the plan helped Will too. It kept him from forgetting any details.

"And what if Hazell has the baby first?"

"We get the baby out of here as fast as we can." Neither of them knew what would happen if the colonel were to see that baby, but they knew if he found out, it would be beyond devastating. Not just for Preacher and Hazell, but for all humans and all apes and especially, to all those who dared to mix.

Their conversation abruptly stopped when they noticed one of the few soldiers who also wanted change made his way over to them. The look on his face told them all they needed to know.

Lake, still hiding, watched as they hurriedly walked over to a building. She wondered what that was all about. As soon as they were gone, she ran back to the pen and stayed in there for the rest of the evening. Deciding she'll try again later.

* * *

"Dolly and Koba, born to Tina at Primate Research Center on August 15th, 2000 at 4:30 and 5:01 AM. Father, Carlos-Yep, looks like we found their father." Said, Tori, as she read out loud Koba and Dolly's earliest documents.

After Derek and Foster had joined them, Malcolm, Tori, Ellie, Blue Eyes, Rocket, Stone, and Maurice were reading through Koba and Dolly's files. Meanwhile, Luca and Kempt had gone to the security camera room to see if the monitors still worked. It felt weird doing it at first, reading their past like this. But it quickly went away as they explored them.

"Did you tell Koba?" Tori asked Derek as she flipped through a section of Dolly's file. She recognized Tommy's name in it.

"No, I didn't want to tell him until we knew for sure."

"Aww, look," Ellie said as she looked through her findings. "Pictures of them."

Curious, Blue Eyes peeked over her shoulder. One picture was of Koba and Dolly the very day they were born. As newborns, they looked exactly the same. Impossible to tell them apart. In another, they were with a female bonobo. Dolly on her back, while Koba was being tickled by her. She must have been Tina, their mother.

"Oh my gosh!" Ellie giggled as she looked at the next picture. Blue Eyes couldn't suppress a smile of his own as he looked at it. Interested, Maurice and Stone looked too. Even Rocket couldn't resist.

The picture was of the twins dressed up for Halloween. Dolly was wearing a pink a white dotted Hello Kitty onesie with the white hoodie over her head. Koba was sitting behind her, he wore a Spiderman onesie but with a mask over his face. He didn't appear to like it, as his hands were over the mask. Possibly trying to get the thing off. There was another one like it, only it was a Christmas picture with the two dressed as Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. Just like before, Dolly was smiling at the camera while Koba struggled with the headpiece of his costume. Only this time, the white hat covered his face.

The apes gave humorous hoots at the pictures. Who knew Koba could look so adorable?!

"Guys, we're looking for information about Koba and Dolly's background. Not their childhood-" Foster was silenced when Ellie showed him one of the pictures. He laughed. "Ok, that is just way too cute!"

Malcolm smiled at the scene. This is how it should be. No fighting between humans and apes, no war, no resentment. Only harmony and laughter. He looked down at the papers he was holding, reading through them. Then his face fell. He read the page again, to make sure he read it right. But no, he read it exactly as it is. "Ellie?"

The concern in her husband's voice got her attention as Ellie looked at him. "What is it?"

"Do you know anything about a drug called.." He glanced at the page again. "Phee...Alza.." The name was weird, Malcolm didn't even know what that was.

"Phialaziphine?"

"Yes."

Ellie's face darkened slightly. Putting the pictures down, she took the paper from Malcolm and looked it over. She sighed, knowing what this meant. "Phialaziphine was a drug ingredient they were trying to figure out how to use. Several different labs all over the nation were testing it out on apes." Apparently, Gen-Sys had fallen into that category as well. Of course, they'd do that.

"And Koba and Dolly were two of them?" Derek was beginning to really dislike Gen-Sys.

"They weren't just two of the apes they tested it on." Ellie's eyes flew over every word on the document. "They both had severe allergic reactions as a result of it." She found what looked like the official report of the experiment done on Koba. She sighed. "Koba was injected with it. It made him sick...So sick that when they finally realized he was allergic to it, Koba was suffering from Appendicitis, Gallbladder problems, Septic Shock, had severe diarrhea and was vomiting profusely."

"Damn." Said Foster.

Maurice, Blue Eyes, Stone and Rocket fell silent. Glancing at each other in disbelief. They couldn't imagine any ape, let alone Koba, being _that_ sick.

Ellie was shivering. She suddenly saw each one of Koba's scars in her mind. Only now did she know that each one were the long forgotten echo's of abuse and pain the bonobo had suffered under the hand of a human. And that was just Koba's, who knows where Dolly's came from? "He survived...They had to remove his appendix and gallbladder...But he doesn't appear to have suffered any life-long effects.." Her voice was full of sympathy for the scarred bonobo. She was beginning to wish he was in the room with them so she could hug him.

"Ohh…" The sound came from Tori. She held a similar document in her hands, only it came from Dolly's file. "..They did the same thing to Dolly...Only...It was different.."

"…Different how?" It took all of Malcolm's willpower to ask. There was something about the look on Tori's face that made him feel worried.

Tori looked mad and upset. Her eyes slowly turning dark, but not completely black like they usually are when she's angry. "They...Injected it into her…" Her voice trailed off, not wanting to say it out loud. She didn't need to, the humans and apes knew what she was talking about and they were horrified at it. "..They neutered her.." Tori said instead. "They destroyed her ability to bare children and just left her like that." She shook her head, her eyes now black. "I always knew my father was a monster, but...But this? This is more than I can take."

The silence that came was almost painful. They all thought of Koba, and of Dolly. Of this new information of what they've been through, and how it affects them now. Maurice made the very mental note to visit Dolly in the infirmary later. With Koba in the jail, she needed someone to watch over her and the orangutan didn't want her to wake up and find herself all alone…Especially with Caesar there. Maurice doubted his leader would actually attack her, and he didn't want to believe he would, but after how he treated Koba, he didn't want to risk it.

"It makes sense." Derek finally said after a long moment. "Koba hated humans because it was always humans who hurt him and his sister. That's why he wanted revenge."

"I don't think wanting revenge is his only reason." Said Ellie, looking back up. "He and Dolly witnessed their mother get killed, they were both abused by an owner, they were repeatedly experimented on in labs, Koba's been having anger issues and Dolly's been showing depression issues. It sounds like they may have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to me."

* * *

"If the screen comes on, make a noise!" Said Kempt from under the desk.

Luca chuckled at him, finding the human amusing.

The camera room consisted of nothing but a desk underneath several different TVs and computers. Each one belonged to a camera somewhere in the Police Department but the one they really wanted working again was the one inside the jail. They had tried several times, but had so far, only been able to get the others to work.

Kempt unplugged all the other TV's and Computers and left the one that connected to the camera in the jail. Instantly, Luca hooted. Signaling that something had happened. Kempt pulled himself out from under the desk and looked at the now only static covered screen. "Almost." He said as he began to fiddle with the wiring. "I think I just need to..Yep, there we go!"

The static went away, revealing a much clearer picture…But Luca and Kempt immediately panicked when they realized what they were seeing. They tried to get out of the room to stop him before it was too late, but to their horror, the door had locked on its own. They were trapped inside!

* * *

"So you're saying Koba shouldn't be locked up but should see a shrink instead?" Asked Foster.

Ellie shrugged. "Either that or at least talk to someone about his issues. I don't think he's necessarily a bad person, he might just be a severely damaged individual who needs help and doesn't know how to ask for it."

Maurice, Rocket, Stone and Blue Eyes looked at each other, feeling bad about this situation. Why didn't they see how bad Koba was hurting? If they had known about how bad his problems were, they would have done something. But the truth was, Koba kept so much of his past to himself. Dolly was more open about it, but Koba never spoke of their mother to anyone and preferred to not talk about his experiences in the labs. It wasn't like he was denying that it had happened to him, but rather he was trying to keep himself from remembering it. Is it possible that not even Dolly had any idea just how really sick her brother was?

Just then, the phone rang. A sound that had been largely forgotten by the humans, and startling to the apes. Ever since the power came back, lots of things that had stopped working had begun working again. The phone being one of them.

Malcolm picked it up, surprised to see the Police Department's number on it. "Hello?" He asked as he put the thing to his ear.

"Malcolm! You guys need to get down here right now!" Kempt's panicked voice was so loud, Malcolm had to hold the phone a few inches from his ear.

"Wh-Why? What's going on?"

"It's Koba! He's going to kill himself!"

Kempt had said those words loud enough that everyone in the room heard. Before they could react, Tori dropped everything she was holding and sped out of the room. She was out of the building within seconds. Malcolm let the phone fall to the ground as he and the others followed, though none of them could catch up with her. No one said anything, all they knew was that they had to get to that jail, to stop Koba from taking his own life.

* * *

Koba stood on top of the bed. The tide up bedsheets made into a noose hung in front of him as he prepared himself for what was to come. His mind was empty as he pulled it over his head. He felt nothing as he felt the tight fabric wrap around his neck. _No one would miss you if you were gone..._ The words were the only thing that ran through his head. He thought about Dolly as he made sure the noose was strong enough to stay tied to the pole on the ceiling and would hold him up when he took the jump. He knew she'd miss him, but he also knew she'd have a happier life if he wasn't there. _Sorry, Dolly..._ He took a final breath, ready for his plunge into darkness. _I'm coming, Mother..._

He closed his eyes.

He jumped off the bed.

 **"** **NO!"** The scream fused with other voices bellowed just as the noose tightened itself and squeezed around his neck. There was a loud crash seconds later. Koba suddenly felt something grab him and pin him to the bed.

It felt as if time had gone in slow motion. The voices were slurred and hard to make out but he could feel the alarm in them. They were shouting. He could feel hands touching his face and chest but he let them. He didn't make any movement until his eyes blinked open. It was blurry, and he felt dizzy, but Koba could make out Ellie's face as she loomed over him and he could almost see flashes of what looked like orange fur and pink hair.

The scarred bonobo must have mentally blacked out because when he finally felt normal again, he found himself sitting on the floor of the cell with his arms restrained and the weight of Luca's hand over his shoulder. They had stopped him..Why?...Don't they see that they'd be better off without him? That he's nothing but a waste of space?

"I don't understand this, why the hell would he do this?!"

"I don't know! Luca and I didn't know he was doing it until we saw him on the screen!"

"This doesn't make any sense!" Ellie looked at the apes. "Has he-Has he ever done this before?"

"No!" Blue Eyes immediately replied, still shaking at what he'd just seen. He had never known his honorary uncle to be suicidal and it scared him to his core seeing him hanging like that.

"This is more serious than we thought." Said Derek, the only one who had calmed down enough to speak semi-normally. "Malcolm and I talked to him just two hours ago, he was fine then."

"Then how did Koba went from ok-ish to wanting to kill himself in just two, short, hours?" Asked Kempt.

Foster eyed the jail. "He's all alone in that cell, in this...Dark, creepy place..I'd probably lose it too." He said.

"No one decides to kill themselves _just_ because they lost it!" Argued Kempt.

Tori didn't take part in the conversation. The ax she used to break the cell door was still wrapped tightly in her hand. Her eyes were locked on the ever silent bonobo. There were so many things she wanted to say to him. That she understood what it feels like to want it to be over. That she had wanted to die too. That it doesn't have to be this way. But these were words best spoken when all the shouting and confusion goes away.

"Ellie, are you sure he's alright?"

Ellie glanced at Koba. Due to his long arms, they had to restrain him by wrapping his left arm across his body to his right side and his right arm across to his left and tie a rope to each hand behind his back. It was exactly how a straight jacket would look. It didn't look the least bit comfortable, but it was the only way to ensure that the bonobo wouldn't be able to hurt himself, or them if he decided to.

"I think so, he was only out cold for ten seconds."

"Why isn't he talking?"

"Because, Dummy, he just attempted to kill himself and we stopped him! He's probably recovering from the shock of it." Tori snapped at Kempt.

"Hay, hay! I'm only asking!" He said defensively.

 _"_ _We should have visited him. Maybe keep him company."_ Signed Stone, who sadly looked from Koba to Rocket and Maurice. It had been the orangutan who had grabbed Koba and untangled the bed sheet noose from his neck.

 _"_ _We should have known something was wrong the moment the humans first appeared,"_ Maurice answered. Over the ten winters, the orangutan had come to know and care for the scarred bonobo and for his sister as if they were his own siblings. But he'd always been especially close to Dolly, who had always admired him for his gentle heart and love of teaching the young ones. In a way, not seeing the warning signs in Koba, and not preventing him from trying to take his own life, made Maurice feel as if he had let them both down somehow.

Rocket huffed sadly. _"I wish none of this had ever happened."_

Blue Eyes kept looking at Koba. He wanted to know why, but part of it was out of fear that his own father...What he had said to Koba...Had driven him to attempt suicide. The prince didn't know which was worse. His honorary uncle wanting to kill himself, or the possibility that Caesar had made him feel that way.

"What the hell is this?" Speaking of trouble, Dreyfus appeared right at that moment. With him were Werner and Finney, his two minions.

Malcolm immediately walked up to him. "Ok, Dreyfus what did you say to him?!" He demanded.

"What?" Dreyfus looked confused.

"When I left, you were here and Koba just tried to kill himself! Now, what did you tell him?!"

Dreyfus didn't see that coming. "Just that he wasn't worth saving-but I swear, I meant that as he's not worth changing! I didn't intend for him to harm himself!"

"Don't put the blame entirely on him," Derek spoke. "With all Koba's been through and what Caesar had said to him today, it's likely anything Dreyfus said to him just added to his motive."

"Damn, Dreyfus!" Whistled Finney. "I knew you hated the apes, but I didn't know you hated them _that_ much!"

"Shut up, Finney!" Dreyfus elbowed him in the side. "You know what I think? I bet that bastard did other crimes and he doesn't want to tell us-"

"Dreyfus, you are either going to leave right now or else I'll make you leave!" Ellie looked worn out and angry.

"Not until I get the keys to put that soldier right back in his cell!" Dreyfus shot back. "Derek forgot him in the interrogation room!"

The soldier? The same idea hit the humans and apes like a wave. "Crap, that guy's cell is right there!" Said Kempt, pointing at the empty cell just feet from them.

"Don't tell me solider-boy planted some shit weed in Koba's head!" Said Foster.

"Well, he was alone with him the longest!" Argued Malcolm.

Dreyfus blinked at them. "What's the big deal, he's just a soldier."

"No, he's not." Said Derek. "That man told me he was the son of the Alpha-Omega leader. If he's telling the truth, then he needs to be as far away from Koba and the apes as possible."

"Oh, so apes matter and humans don't?!" Dreyfus knew he was stirring the pot but he didn't care.

Werner got in-between them. "Ok, ok! Enough!" He glanced at Koba, who was as still as a statue. "Shouldn't we talk about this somewhere that is not in earshot of an ape who almost killed himself today?" He asked.

"He's right, Koba shouldn't be hearing this. Not in his state, anyway." Said Derek.

Dreyfus snorted but said nothing in reply.

"Ellie." Malcolm returned to his wife's side. "Is there anything we can do for him?" He asked.

"I have some anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medicine, but medicating him won't fix him." She glanced at Koba. She wished he'd say something. Anything. Even an insult from him. Just to let her know he was ok. "We need to have him on suicide watch for the night. He can't be alone right now."

"I'll stay with him in the cell." Said Tori, making everyone look at her.

"Absolutely not!" Spat Dreyfus. "He could kill you, Victoria!"

Tori's black eyes seemed to take up her entire face. "Doofus, I'm already pissed off at you as is and I'm holding an ax in my hand! Do **NOT** make me swing it at you!"

Dreyfus glanced from her to the ax then at her again. "You're bluffing!"

Tori held the weapon up. "Am I?"

Dreyfus made the smart choice and stepped back from her.

"If I were you, I'd let her do it." Offered Werner, who was also being wary of the enraged girl's ax.

"Ok, so Tori will stay with Koba." Said Malcolm, trying to defuse the arguing. "And I'll watch from the monitor." He volunteered.

"Me too." Said Blue Eyes.

"I'll will too." Said Dreyfus, ignoring the dirty look from Blue Eyes.

"Fine." Said, Malcolm. "But only if you promise to keep your mouth shut."

Luca hooted, getting their attention. _"I'll keep watch."_ He signed.

With that settled, Ellie sighed tiredly. "It's late. The rest of us should go to bed." She said.

"Is the cell clear of anything Koba could use to harm himself with?" Asked Derek.

"Yeah, Rocket, Stone and I took care of that." Answered Kempt. "We even got the noose." He said as he held up the tied up bed sheets.

Half a minute later, the group became just six which became two when Malcolm, Dreyfus and Blue Eyes went to the camera room and Luca went behind the entrance of the jail. Tori finally put her ax down as she walked over to Koba. She sat down a few feet from him, letting him have his space. She stayed silent for a while, only watching the scarred bonobo as he stared at the ground with a detached, emotionless face. But the pain in his eyes was unmistakable.

"You know you really scared everyone, right?" She asked in a soft voice.

Koba answered in the form of a nod, which relieved Tori. _He's back...He's mentally back..._

Taking a breath and letting it out in a long sigh, Tori prepared herself for what she'd say next. "..I did that too, Koba.." She admitted. "..I didn't try to hang myself, but I tried to take my life once too.."

The scarred bonobo stayed still and quiet, but Tori could feel him listening. It took a moment for her to build up the courage to tell him the story. If her childhood wasn't secret enough, this was the one thing Tori had always believed she'd take to her grave. A secret that no one, not even her mother, had known.

"..That day…Caesar freed you all...I told my parents I was too sick to go to school.." Tori never thought she'd miss school, she always hated it so. But now that it was gone, it felt like her old life belonged to a different world. "My mother had to run errands, and my father was at work…When I was alone, I..I locked myself in the bathroom and emptied a capsule of sleeping pills in my hand…" She shut her eyes for a second, suddenly remembering the smell of those tiny, white circles that promised to take her away all those years ago.

"..I was going to take them...But then, you apes escaped and scared the entire city...I was so afraid I dropped them all and hid in the shower…I didn't come out until my mother came home.." When Tori looked up, she realized Koba was now looking at her. He had been crying, she could tell. His eyes were red, and his face had faded tear stains running down his cheeks.

"In a way, Caesar saved me that day just as much as he saved you and the other apes." It was strange reciting that day. Tori remembered doing it, she remembered the feeling she felt as she prepared herself to do it, and she remembered her reasons as clear as day. But the person she was ten years ago, wasn't who she was anymore and it almost felt more like a bad dream than a memory.

Koba blinked at her. taking in the story. He found it hard to believe Tori, a female human with pink hair and a bold attitude could possibly want to take her own life as he had. But it was different with her. Tori had never tried to kill her leader or try to start a war. He turned his head back to the ground. Sighing.

"Why did you do it?" She asked. "No one tries to take their life for nothing."

He expected tears. He could feel the heaviness in his chest as he breathed. But Koba's eyes stayed dry. He wondered if he had cried enough tears to make himself dry and empty inside. "..Apes.." His voice was low, like a whisper. "..Humans...Better without...Koba.."

Tori tried to hide the anger in her heart, but she could feel her eyes darkening again. "Who told you that?"

"C-Caesar…Dreyfus…The Sol...The Soldier…"

"They lied." Tori scooted closer to him. "Koba, do you know why I forgave you for killing my father?

"He hurt you." The last person Koba wanted to talk about right now was Jacobs.

"That's not the only reason."

Surprised by her words, Koba looked at her.

Tori gulped, knowing this will be hard. "I was abused by my father all my life...I tried to run away, but...But Dreyfus, when he was a cop, kept picking me up and sending me back...All I wanted was to escape, and when running away failed, I decided I had to kill myself.." Tori tried not to shed tears at the memory, but one managed to fall anyway. She dried quickly it away. She knew that very human was watching them and he could very well be hearing her, but she honestly didn't care anymore. Let him figure it out.

"It was Caesar that saved my life that day...But I know I would have tried again…Koba, when you killed my father, you saved me...From me."

Koba was still. First came the numbness, then the full weight of Tori's words and what they meant hit him. He and Dolly, Pope and all the other apes from Gen-Sys had suffered at Jacobs' hands, but it wasn't always there in their lives. There had been a time in each of their lives when he wasn't there. Tori, however, had been dealing with it...Probably since the day she was born...And by killing him, the tormentor they all shared, he had freed her from him…Just as Caesar had done for him and the apes...

Koba sniffled as he turned his head away. Surprised to find that he still had some tears left. _If killing Jacobs meant saving Tori, then does that make it a good thing?_ "Koba..K-killed other humans." He saw no reason to keep that a secret. What's the point if so many of his other secrets were not secrets anymore? "Carver and...Two humans where the...Guns are.."

Tori knew who he was talking about. Terry and McVeigh. Those two party-heads who couldn't follow a simple order even if their lives depended on it. And then there's Carver. The annoying, paranoid moron. She knew she wouldn't miss them.

"Why did you do that?"

"Carver...Attacked Caesar's sons... K-Koba...Wanted...Revenge…Beat him to death…Shot the others...With gun...Stole it, to..Shoot Caesar."

So that's how he got that gun. Tori thought back on earlier that day. When Koba almost shot her with a different gun. She had returned it to the gun warehouse when she changed back into her regular clothes. At the time, her only worry was anyone noticing the sand on the firearm and getting suspicious about it. That was turning out to be the least of her worries.

"Do you still want revenge for what had happened to you?"

Koba bit his lip, blinking away fresh tears that burned his face as they fell from his eyes. "..Don't...Don't know anymore.." After everything that happened, he just wanted the day to be over. The revaluation that Tori was a victim of Jacobs just as much as him and the apes from the labs were, that third soldier running around like a crazy man, Ash and Dolly attacking him, Rocket and Tinker because of they were brainwashed to do so, Caesar reappearing and confronting him for what he had done, finding all those children whose parents were either dead or not in their lives at all, being arrested by Dreyfus, having his file read, attempting to kill himself but being stopped..All Koba wanted at that moment was for it all to end.

"How about war? Do you still want that?" Tori felt weird asking that question, but she needed to know and Malcolm, Dreyfus and Blue Eyes, if they could hear what they're saying, need to hear this too.

The scarred bonobo was silent before answering, seemingly thinking about the question. "..Apes…Humans…Already in war…" He finally answered. "But not..the way...Koba wanted.."

 _He's right._ She realized. The humans and apes were in a war, but not between each other. The war was them against the Alpha-Omega group. But they weren't together. The apes and humans agreed to a temporary truce, help each other find and rescue their loved ones and heal their wounded. But they weren't united. They were tolerating each other, throwing punches only when they had the chance to. It was as if the humans simply would not accept the fact that the real enemy was the same race as they were and the apes were still trying to distinguish the good humans from the bad ones. Something that Tori was now beginning to have trouble with herself.

Koba was shivering now, which was hard to watch with his arms tied together like that. Tori reached over and pulled the only thing from the bed that wasn't used in his suicide attempt: The blanket. She wrapped it around him, but she knew he needed much more than just warmth from the oversized rag. She was taking a risk, but she knew what she had to do.

"Are you going to hurt yourself again?" She asked.

Koba answered with only a shake of his head.

"Are you going to try and hurt me?" She highly doubted he would in the state he was in, but she knew she had to make sure anyway.

Again, he shook his head.

"Are you sure?"

This time, his answer was a nod.

"Ok.." With that, Tori reached over and untied the rope. Once it was off, she threw it outside the cell. Partly to prevent Koba from hurting himself again if he really did intend to, but mostly so no one will criticize her for not doing it. She then scooted closer to the scarred bonobo, who immediately threw his arms around her the second she was close enough. Tori returned the embrace, knowing how badly he needed this. She felt her shoulder get wet, and realized he was crying again.

Tori considered it for a moment. Koba needed comfort, and Tori knew a good way to give that to him. But this was something she hadn't done in years, and she never liked doing it in general. She took a breath, knowing that it didn't matter. Koba needed this right now.

" _You with the sad eyes...Don't be discouraged, oh I realize...It's hard to take courage, in a world full of people. You can lose sight of it all. The darkness inside you can make you feel so small._ "

Tori thought she'd never hear those lyrics again. She thought she'd forget them before singing them. But they came as easy as ever as if the song had been laying dormant in her mind.

" _Show me a smile then. Don't be unhappy, can't remember when I last saw you laughing. This world makes you crazy. And you've taken all you can bear, just call me up. 'Cause I will always be there._ "

It was her mother's favorite song, the very one she sang the most often. Tori had grown up listening to it just as she had seen her father beat and abuse her mother. Singing it again was like being reunited with a piece of her mother and being reminded of the past at the same time.

Koba was still as her voice echoed throughout the jail. He had heard humans sing before, but never to him. Apes rarely sang, and even if they did, it was almost always in sign language. They usually didn't use their voices. Still, as Tori sang to him, he felt a strange, calming warmth surround him. It was as if the song itself was hugging him. Wrapping him in its melody, and protecting him from all the pain and all the fear that lived in the world.

" _And I see your true colors shining through. I see your true colors, and that's why I love you so don't be afraid to let them show. Your true colors, true colors are beautiful._ " Tori wasn't born with her mother's singing talent. She hated the exposure and the vulnerability that came with singing. But surprisingly, she didn't feel it this time. Maybe it was because Koba was already as exposed and vulnerable he could possibly be and being that way too made them more united than they had ever been. " _Like a rainbow._ "

Koba felt safe enough to close his tired, tear drained eyes and rest his head on Tori's shoulder. He let the comforting song lull him to sleep, leaving behind all his fear, all his anger, all his sadness and all his pain as he slowly fell into a deep, peaceful slumber.

This was the second time Koba had cried in front of a human, but the first time in ten years that Tori had sung and uttered the last words her mother had ever spoken.

* * *

The infirmary was lit only by candles, they were mostly meant to be 'night lights' for the children who still didn't feel safe enough to fall asleep in their new surroundings. But it felt peaceful with so many candles everywhere. Almost as if the wounded were being watched over by fireflies as they slept. Maurice took careful, silent steps as he made his way to Dolly's bed. He saw Tinker with her head rested on Ash's bed. She hadn't moved at all. Cornelia was snuggled on the bed with a sound asleep Caesar. Cornelius snuggled into his mother's arms.

Maurice pulled his gaze from his leader to the female bonobo, who looked pitiful in her bed with no one snoozing by her side. He wondered if anyone had visited her at all since Koba's arrest.

He took her hand and held it in his own. He looked at her face, wondering if she was dreaming. He hoped that if Dolly was indeed dreaming, then she was lost somewhere far away. A place where brothers don't attempt suicide and leave their sisters behind, where betrayal and hurt doesn't exist. Where the Alpha-Omega could never go to. A place where only peace, love, and happiness lives…Somewhere that they all would like to go to...

Maurice sighed. Bringing the female bonobo's hand up to his lips and kissing it. He'd never do this if she were awake, but it felt right to do it. "Sweet dreams, Dolly." He whispered, placing his other hand over hers. "..May you wake up...To happier tomorrow.."

* * *

The screams will forever echo themselves in Pope's mind. If he didn't think the humans could go any lower than they already had, he was wrong. If he didn't think the colonel could get no colder than he already proven himself to be, he was horribly mistaken. Dot was sitting next to him, her hands were wrapped around his arm. As if she were hoping he'd protect her if the humans discovered them-And Pope knew he would. At this point, he'd protect anyone from these humans...Even if they were other humans...

It had been Cortez who woke him up and took him and Carlos out of their quarters. A human who they called Will had Dot, and two other chimps with him. He held a bundle in his arms, and he looked nervous. They had just gotten into the helicopter when the colonel…What had happened next was something far worse than anything Pope had ever been experienced.

The fishnet scarred chimpanzee shut his eyes and tried to block the scene from replaying in his head. All he knew was he and Dot, Carlos, the baby in the bundle and the two other chimps (one with a wire sticking out of his head and the other with one eye green and one eye gold) had to stay quiet if they were to get to the city unseen by the helicopter pilots. It was only when the flying machine took off that Pope realized he had left Lake, Lucky, Andy, Red and Winter back there. He immodestly felt horrible for leaving them in that hellhole and wished he had remembered them sooner. _I'll come back for them._

One thing he was convinced of was that Colonel McCullough and all who followed him were the most dangerous, most evil humans Pope had ever had the misfortune of meeting and he was relieved to be going back to the city. He still didn't like the humans there, but at least they don't cause the sort of pain that McCullough caused today.

Dot poked him with her finger. It was the first time they ever touched, and her calloused and dry hands felt cold against Pope's skin. _"Where are we going?"_ She asked.

 _"_ _Somewhere safe."_ He told her. _"There are humans where we are going, but they're different than these ones. They don't hurt apes. We'll be safe there."_ Pope knew better than to tell her all the abuse and torture he went through in that city during his days in Gen-Sys.

She looked frightened. _"How can we be safe if there are humans?"_

 _"_ _Dot, no one in that city will hurt you. They are all good humans, they don't follow the colonel."_

 _"_ _How do you know?"_

 _"_ _Because I've seen them. I know some of them."_ Pope was suddenly glad that Malcolm and the other humans had come to the ape village. He knew that if the other surviving humans were like them, then they'd be safe.

Dot was biting at her lip. Her teeth peeling away the tender skin. A habit that Carlos had shown and it seemed Dot had it too. _"Stay with me?"_ She asked.

Pope took both of her hands in his and leaned in closer to her. "Always." He whispered in her ear, just loud enough for her, and only her, to hear.

* * *

 **A's/N:...Man, I wish I could put some music in those scenes! XD Oh wow! And I just noticed this chapter has more words than the last one! LOL!**

 **Since I haven't read Revelations, I have no idea what role John McCullough played in it or if he ever met the apes at all, but I couldn't resist making him be that solider from chapter 6. Who knows? Maybe this 'son of the almighty colonel' could become useful later...XD**

 **That song that Tori sang, if anyone is wondering, is True Colors. It was used in the movie Trolls, which was a cute movie I'll give it that, but I like movies with a little more heartache if you know what I mean. But I did love the True Colors song, and I felt it would work for that particular scene with Koba. (if anyone is wondering what Phialaziphine (Phee-Alz-Aphine) is, it's a random drug thingy I made up. XD)**

 **WoooHooo! Guess who's coming home for the holidays! Hint: He was last seen in Firestorm!...Yup, he's officially appearing in the next chapter! Family/childhood buddy reunion time! =D**

 **And finally...If anyone has an idea of what happened between Preacher and Hazell, please don't spoil it...Wait for the drama to start first! XD**

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


	11. Unity

**A's/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! :D I'm super happy because I managed to make this chapter have a Christmas-themed ending, (And I submitted it on Christmas Day! X3) but it's much longer than my other chapters...I think it's safe to say that this chapter will be the last of the longest ones for a while. Anyways, prepare yourselves, guys! This chapter is going to be even more of an emotional rollercoaster ride than the last one!**

 **And of course, there's the warnings!**

 **This chapter contains character (OC) death, some miner grossness, cursing, mention/flashbacks of violent death/torture, mention of drugs and alcoholism and...Not sure if this applies, but...Nope! I'm gonna let you guys discover it! (it's not bad, it just depends on how you feel about the subject).**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Caesar knew he should be sleeping, but his mind wouldn't allow it. Every time he tried to doze off, the Ape King would be awakened by the tightness in his chest and the nausea in his stomach. He'd think his sickness was returning, but the symptoms would go away as quickly as they had come. Then, he'd feel as if rocks were stuck in his throat.

Something was wrong. He realized it as he sat up. The city was safe, he knew that. No one was in any immediate danger, but he could feel it with every breath he took.

He glanced at Cornelia, who was snuggling next to him. The warmth of her body felt like the only normal thing left. He saw Tinker with Ash. At some point, while he was sleeping, Rocket had joined his wife and son and was sitting next to the two sleeping chimps. Across from him, Caesar saw Maurice sleeping at the foot of Dolly's bed.

 _Where's Koba?_ Caesar vaguely remembered seeing the scarred bonobo sitting with his sister not too long ago, but then…He couldn't remember.

Footsteps echoed softly in the infirmary, getting Caesar's attention. He was surprised to see Blue Eyes standing there. He looked tired like he hadn't slept at all. But what surprised him was the frown on his son's face.

 _"_ _What happened?"_ He asked in sign language, not wanting to wake up the others.

Blue Eyes wished it were just him and his father in the room, he felt like screaming. _"Oh, nothing."_ He answered sarcastically. _"Other than the fact that you broke Koba!"_

Broke Koba? Caesar could feel his face twisting into a frown. _"And that's more serious than him trying to kill me?"_ He shot back. Even though he had almost no memory of the interaction, Caesar distinctly remembered hearing himself confront Koba on his attempt to shoot him.

Something snapped in Blue Eyes and he marched over to his father. Stomping so loudly, that he woke Maurice, Rocket, Tinker, and Cornelia. "You! Hurt! Him!"

"He! Betrayed! Me!" His voice came out before he could stop it. It was as if he and Blue Eyes both remember other people were still sleeping. In the white fog and early morning light, it was easy to think it was just the two of them but it wasn't.

 _"_ _Doesn't matter! You went too far!"_ Blue Eyes argued in sign language. _"Koba tried to kill himself because of what you said!"_

For a moment, Caesar wasn't sure if he read his son's signs right. _"What?"_

Annoyed, Blue Eyes repeated his signs. _"He tried to hang himself in his cell."_ He added, in case his father were to ask.

A horrible realization washed over Caesar. He had confronted Koba. He said something to him…And now, that bonobo had attempted suicide? "..What did I say?" He asked shakily. His voice now a lower tone.

Blue Eyes narrowed his eyes at his father. Why would he ask that?

 _"_ _Koba tried to kill himself?!"_ This time, it was Cornelia. She and Tinker had gotten closer to them, concern and shock written all over their faces.

 _"_ _After Dreyfus arrested Koba, he put him in the jail where a solider-one of the humans who took Caesar, Dolly and Ash, was being held in. What Caesar had said to him, and maybe things that the solider and Dreyfus had said, pushed Koba over the edge."_ Explained Maurice.

Cornelia and Tinker glanced at each other. As much as they didn't like the fact that Koba had tried to kill their Ape King, and wanted to start a war against the humans, neither of them would have wished death upon the bonobo. Let alone, thought he'd want to take his own life.

 _"_ _Is he alright?"_ Asked Tinker.

 _"_ _We were able to stop him, but he's on suicide watch."_ Rocket told Tinker. _"One of the humans, Tori, is with him. Blue Eyes, Malcolm, Luca, and Dreyfus had to watch them all night just to make sure they were ok."_

So that's why he's so tired. Caesar bit his lips, his mind racing to try and remember just what he had said. He knew he had said that Koba had tried to kill him, but everything beyond that seemed to slip through his fingers. _"What did I say to him?"_ He asked.

 _"_ _Don't you remember?"_ Cornelia looked concerned.

Caesar could only look into her worried eyes and wish he had a better answer for her. _"No.."_

While they talked, Dolly began twitching in her bed. The first movement she made since being tranquilized.

 _Dolly's Dream/Flashback:_

 _Dolly is on her own as she explores this new, strange world. She had been outside before, but now it's as if the long, tall trees were holding up the sky and the endless green ground could stretch on for miles. Covering the whole world. It made her feel small, like a tiny child taking her first steps all over again._

 _The others were scattered about. Most were resting, while others were moving the dead. Following Caesar's orders. Koba was one of them, which was why they were separated for now. After so long of not being with her brother, she hoped he'd be safe with the one who freed them. Both of them were lucky, they had managed to escape the city with the others without getting injured. This meant she could explore if she wished to._

 _She jumped back when she saw a flash of golden and black flutter past her. Dolly stared at the insect with pretty wings as it landed on a flower. Curious, she got closer to it and sniffed one of the flowers. It had a nice smell, and its yellow pollen sprinkled her nose while it's light purple petals tickled her._

 _Looking back up, she noticed that the colorful bug was still there. She reached out to try to touch it, but the silly thing flew away when her finger was just inches from it._

 _Dolly turned her head when a soft hoot from behind reached her ears. There stood a male bonobo, one of the few who stuck around rather than help Caesar. "Butterfly." He signed._

 _"_ _Butterfly?" She asked, not recognizing the sign or the word._

 _The male pointed at the insect that was now flying in another direction. "Have you ever seen one before?"_

 _"_ _No. My brother and I came from human labs. Never seen much of the outside." Dolly remembered her cage back at Gen-Sys, and every cage she ever lived in. Compared to being out here, cages seemed so small now._

 _"_ _I was born in a zoo. Learned sign language from a mute human." Signed the male. "What's your name?"_

 _"_ _Dolly. My brother's name is Koba." Excitement filled her at the thought of making a new friend. "And your name?"_

 _"_ _Ishmael."_

 _End of Flashback/Dream:_

The groan that left Dolly's throat was like a tired yawn. She placed her hand over her aching head as she slowly sat up. She wondered how long she had been asleep, she certainly felt like she had slept longer than she normally would.

"Dolly."

She opened her eyes. Maurice, Cornelia, Tinker, Rocket, and Blue Eyes were gathered at Caesar's bed and were looking at her. Maurice made his way over to her. _"How do you feel?"_ He asked.

 _"_ _Tired,"_ Dolly answered with a half-hearted sign. Her body felt like it was still sleeping. The very thought of closing her eyes and letting herself return to her slumber felt nauseating. _"What happened?"_

 _"_ _Do you remember anything?"_

Dolly had to think about Maurice's question before answering. _"I remember the pain. Ash, Caesar, Pope and I being in a cell together…The humans did something to us, but I don't remember much after that.."_

Blue Eyes and Rocket exchanged glances. How could Dolly not remember what she had been put through? And Caesar…Did he really forget the confrontation between him and Koba? Neither of them knew anything about the serum that was used on the two apes, but is it possible that stuff messed up their memory?

 _"_ _What happened?"_ Dolly asked, this time more insistent.

 _"_ _The bad humans- Alpha-Omega as they call themselves, brainwashed you and Ash and Caesar to attack us. Specifically, Rocket, Tinker and Koba."_ Maurice finally gave in.

 _"_ _What?!"_ The fear filled Dolly faster than she could breathe. It felt like her heart was going to rip out of her chest. _"Did I hurt him?! Is he ok?!"_

 _"_ _Koba is fine."_ Maurice tried to calm her down. _"You just bit him and gave him a few bruises. He was mostly freaked out."_

Relief settled in, releasing the fear with an exhale. Dolly dried away the tears that threatened to stain her face. She wondered if she'd ever forgive herself for attacking, and possibly, almost killing, her twin brother. _"Where is he now?"_

"Dolly." Caesar wasn't sure what he would have said if Dolly hadn't interrupted him.

"I want to see him!" She pleaded.

"You will." He still wondered if Dolly had any involvement in Koba's attempt to kill him, but Caesar was beginning to doubt it. The Ape King considered telling her about her brother's suicide attempt but decided against it. She was already worried as is, what good would it do to make it worse? _"Koba is busy right now, but he'll come see you later."_ He said instead.

On a better day, Dolly would have gone looking for her brother herself. But her body was so worn, she wondered if she could even stand at all. Sighing, she nodded. Deciding it was best to trust her king's words.

Just then, Kempt and Ellie appeared. They paused when they saw that Caesar and Dolly were up. "Are you two alright?" Asked Ellie, receiving a nod from both apes. There was something in Ellie's voice and the way she and Kempt looked that gave Blue Eyes the chills.

"Something. Wrong?" Asked the prince.

"Yeah, another dead body was found." Said Kempt before quickly adding. "It's not as bad as the first one, but it's pretty bad."

Dead bodies? Caesar and Dolly both looked at the other apes for explanation. _"The bad humans left a dead body not too long ago. There are good humans within the base who want to help us. Their leader, Will, sends clues to us through dead bodies."_ Signed Rocket.

Will?! Caesar never thought he'd hear the name of his adoptive father again but his heart skipped a beat when he did.

"How Bad?" Asked Blue Eyes.

"It's a human, but...I don't know, man. It looks beat up." Kempt wasn't sure how to word it. All he knew was it wasn't like before, but horrible all the same.

"Derek wants us to meet Foster and Stone at where the body was found." Ellie just wanted to get it over with. Between last night, and the drama of Dreyfus, she barely had time to rest and relax. "We also need to get Tori and Koba."

Rocket, Blue Eyes and Maurice looked at her with stunned eyes. They agreed that Koba doesn't belong in that jail, but how could they get him out? Knowing Dreyfus, he wouldn't release that poor bonobo so easily.

"I come too." Said Caesar, as he started to get out of his bed and noticed the IV in his arm for the first time.

"Caesar-"

"No." Caesar knew what Ellie was going to say, but he didn't care. "Want to help you. Need to see Koba. Not taking no for answer." He said stubbornly.

Ellie sighed. She knew this was wrong, but she honestly didn't feel like arguing with the Ape King. She walked over to him and carefully removed the IV. "Just be careful, ok?" She asked, getting a nod from him as a reply.

 _"_ _I'm sorry. I have to leave again."_ Rocket wished with all his heart that he could spend the day with his wife and son. He had seen so much hurt and anguish that he had just about had it.

Tinker shook her head. _"It's ok."_ She nuzzled her snout to his. _"Cornelia and I will stay here with Ash and Dolly. We'll help watch over them and the children. Just be safe."_

Reluctantly, Rocket nodded.

 _"_ _Watch your father."_ Said Cornelia. _"If he starts to feel sick, bring him right back here."_

 _"_ _I will, I promise."_ Though Blue Eyes doubted he could physically drag his father back to the infirmary.

Maurice took one final look at Dolly. _"Will you be alright by yourself?"_ He asked her.

Dolly gave a small smile at the orangutan. She always admired his gentle heart and caring nature. _"I'll be fine, Maurice. I know I'm in good hands here."_ A thought came to her and she quickly asked. _"When you see Koba, can you tell him that I love him?"_

Little did Dolly know just how much love Koba needed. _"Of course I will."_ Maurice promised.

* * *

Tori hadn't left his side. When Koba woke up, he was still wrapped in her embrace and his head was still resting on her shoulder. The pink haired human had fallen asleep with her head on the bed cushion. Her eyes fluttered open when she felt the scarred bonobo move his head. He didn't expect her to smile at him when their eyes met.

"Feeling better?" She asked.

"Yeah.." Koba wondered if the ache in his neck was from his suicide attempt, or if it was simply from sleeping on Tori's shoulder. He rubbed it, letting the blanket fall from his shoulder as he did. His nose felt stuffy and his eyes and face hurt, possibly from all that crying he did. He suddenly felt very self-conscious about it.

"Are you sure?" Tori could sense his feelings.

Oh, what's the point?!

".. Koba...Hate...Koba.." He admitted. He couldn't bear to look her in the eye as he said it.

Tori's eyes widened. "Why? What's the matter?" She feared the ape may still have suicidal thoughts.

Koba didn't have the courage to speak it. _"Because I cried…Crying is weakness..! I hate being weak, bad things happen when I'm weak..!"_ He let himself rant.

Confused, and a little alarmed, Tori took Koba's hands in her own. Trying to ignore the fact that his hands made her's seem small enough to belong to a mouse. "Now hang on, why do you think that? Did someone tell you that?"

He looked up. Tori was met with a bonobo who was on the brink of shedding more tears and was trying very hard not to.

"Oh, Koba." Tori pulled him into a hug. Letting him bury his face in her shoulder again. "It's ok, everyone cries. Even the strongest of us cry sometimes."

"N-Not! Me!"

"Look at me, Koba." Tori pulled away and cupped his face in her hands, gently drying away the tears with her thumbs. A touch that Koba found warmth in. "Tears aren't a sign of weakness. They're a sign that you care and that you have feelings."

Have feelings? _Yeah, I have feelings alright._ Though what Koba was feeling wasn't good at all. He sniffled as he calmed down, Tori's word's driving the self-loathing thoughts out of his head. Koba had never felt this way around a human before. He had felt safe around Mary, the first caretaker he and Dolly ever had, but this was different. He felt like he could tell Tori anything and she would not judge him. As if she could look past all his flaws and see him for what he really was. Something about that made Koba feel safer than he had felt in the last twenty-four hours.

"..Do you...Think...Koba can...Change?" He finally asked, pulling away from her hands. The desire to kill her was long gone. So was the hatred and the anger towards all humans. All that was left in Koba was this confusing emptiness. Was he good? Was he bad? Did he want war? Or peace? Can he change? Or would he stay the same?

"Do you want to?" Tori believed Koba could redeem himself, but she also knew that it depends on the scarred bonobo himself.

The question was new to him and it momentarily stunned him. _Do you want to change?_ Those five words asked much more than a question. It was as if they took all the confusion Koba felt, organized them and then made them into one big thing, something that forced him to really think about his actions and his feelings. Koba felt his mind wander to the days when it was just Malcolm and his group in the dam. He was so angry back then. Angry at Caesar, at the humans..At his life. Though it wasn't pushing down on him, Koba had felt as if the wright of the world were on his shoulders. As if he was being smothered by something he couldn't see and the only way out was to fight.

But now, having come to know the humans and see what he and the apes could do when united with them, he could feel the grip of his hatred loosening. It suddenly dawned on him that it wasn't just the apes that stopped him from taking his own life. Maurice may have pulled him free of his noose, but it was Tori who broke the cell door so he could get inside and it was Ellie who had examined him afterwards…Apes... _And humans_ had saved him...From himself...They both cared about him...The weight that Koba had been carrying few like it was being lifted from his shoulders. It was like he was finally able to breathe again.

Koba knew right then what he wanted.

"Yes." He said it without hesitation. "..But don't know how.."

"Maybe you could start with letting go of the past?" Suggested Tori. "Like forgiving what happened to you?"

Koba thought of all the humans who ever hurt him. Roger, Tommy, Jacobs...And all the others in-between. There were so many of them he didn't know where to start.

Tori, once again, could see what he was feeling. "Here, I'll help." She said.

Koba's gaze was on her. What was she going to do?

"As his daughter, I'm sorry for everything my father, Steven Jacobs, has done to you and your sister and all the other apes who ever met him."

It wasn't her apology to make. Yet, Tori was apologizing for her father and all he stood for. It confused Koba at first, but then he felt something happen. His head suddenly began to hurt and he could almost smell that lab smell he thought he'd never smell again. He shut his eyes and put his hand on his head. Letting the memories flood and run freely in his mind.

Koba was suddenly there again. In Gen-Sys, inside his old cage. He looked up and saw Jacobs staring back at him. His mind flashed forward, and he was now back in the room where pain lived. He could feel the pain and hear himself screaming as clearly as if it were yesterday. Koba was suddenly reliving every encounter he ever had with Jacobs. From the leas painful to the most agonizing. It lasted until he was back on the bridge, looking down at Jacobs as he fell to his watery grave.

Koba finally opened his eyes when the memories faded. He shivered, feeling his heart pounding. He swallowed. "..I…F-Forgive…Him.." The words were hard to say but when he spoke them, Koba felt different. He felt as if he had been haunted by the ghost of Jacobs, and his ghost had finally crossed over. Taking with him all the resentment that Koba had clung on to.

Koba felt free. Freer than he had ever felt.

Tori hugged him again, though this time they held each other tighter than before. "You're going to be ok, Koba," Tori whispered to him. "I know you will, and I know you can change. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Koba could feel the warmth of happiness as it filled his chest. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the scarred bonobo smiled.

The moment was interrupted by the sounds of someone coming. Tori and Koba looked up, expecting it to be Dreyfus, coming to berate them or try and interrogate Koba-and it was, but Dreyfus was with Malcolm and Derek. Ellie and Maurice stood in the doorway with Luca.

"I don't care what your reason is, you are **NOT** taking that bastard out of this jail!" What's happening here?

Derek turned around and looked at the other human. "I don't think you understand, Dreyfus." He said in a calm voice. "Koba and Tori are coming with us with, or without your permission."

"Oh! So you respect an ape's permission, but not a human's?!"

"What's going on?" Tori interrupted them. She was getting sick of Dreyfus and his constant whining.

"You stay out of it Victoria!" Dreyfus shouted.

Ignoring him, Malcolm answered her question. "There was another dead body, and we need you guys to look at it." Malcolm looked from Tori to Koba. "Koba, you might know something about the body."

Koba blinked at him. How could he know anything about a dead body?

"They're coming with us, Dreyfus." It was clear from the tone in his voice that nothing the mayor would say could change Derek's mind.

Dreyfus huffed. "Fine." He opened the cell door. "But, Tori needs to lead Koba around with this." As if Dreyfus wasn't already despicable enough. What he held up, was a rope.

Luca and Maurice were growling at him as the rope dangled from his grasp

"Are you serious right now?!" Malcolm couldn't hold it back. "After he just tried to hang himself?! You expect us to put a rope around his neck?!"

"Yes, I do!"

"This is a new low, Dreyfus, even for you!" Derek was enraged by this. Ellie was silent, trying not to let her own anger take over.

Koba stared at the rope in the human's hands. The noose he had made for himself last night had left a red mark on his throat. The one thing Koba remembered the most from his suicide attempt was the feeling of that circle squeezing around his airways. He didn't like the idea of anything being wrapped so tightly around his neck again.

Tori stood up, her hand wrapped in Koba's. "Hell, no! I'm not putting that thing on his neck!"

"Yes, you are!" Dreyfus shoved the thing in her hands. "Now, put it on him Victoria!"

Koba glanced from the rope to Tori. He hoped she wouldn't do it, though he wouldn't be angry if she did.

All eyes were on Tori. It was as if everyone were holding their breath, waiting to see what she would do. To their surprise, she began to tie a knot.

"Tori-"

Tori looked up at Malcolm. The look in her black eyes silenced him. She continued to tie the knot.

Dreyfus took this as a good sign. "Good." Maybe this impulsive, out of control girl has finally grown up. "Now put it on his neck."

Koba prepared himself for the hating circle. But it never came. Before anyone knew what was happening, Tori lunged at Dreyfus and threw the rope over his neck and shoved him to the ground.

"Hay-" Dreyfus didn't have time to react, he had no idea she was that fast.

Tori walked over to him, she glared down at Dreyfus with enough disdain to make thunder strike. "Treat Koba, or any other ape, like that again and it'll be me you'll have to worry about Doofus." She had the right mind to kick him, but chose not to and instead walked back over to Koba and took his hand in hers. She looked at Derek and Malcolm, who were both stunned by her actions. "Now, let's go look at this dead guy."

"She-She just put a rope around my neck and shoved me!" Dreyfus looked kind funny on the ground with his hair a mess and the rope wrapped around his neck. The best part was his face was pink with anger.

"You had it coming and you know it, Dreyfus." Said, Malcolm.

* * *

It had taken a while to get Dreyfus to stop complaining, but he eventually gave in and followed after the group as Derek and Malcolm lead the way to where the body was. Ellie was deathly quiet, Maurice walked next to her but couldn't think of anything to say. Luca was right in front of Koba and Tori. He knew neither would try to run.

 _"_ _You didn't have to do that, you know."_ Signed Koba to Tori after so long of silence.

 _"_ _Yeah I did."_ Tori replied. _"I'm sick of Dreyfus and all his bullshit. You're not the enemy, these Alpha-Omega jerks are. But that numbskull just won't accept it."_

 _"_ _Why do you two fight so much?"_ Koba had noticed this between the two. Tori and Dreyfus never saw eye to eye.

 _"_ _I ran away from home a lot as a kid."_ Tori Explained. _"Every time, it was him that took me home and he never once asked me why I ran away or bothered to talk to my parents."_ Her eyes were still black. " _I'd try to escape my father, but all Dreyfus would do is send me back and did nothing to help me."_

That explains a lot. It was hard to pictured Tori as a young child, but Koba could imagine how she felt. If he and Dolly weren't savable, Tori was. She was a human, she was a child. If any adult human believed she was in danger, they could have done something. But no one did. Maybe Jacobs had enough control over Tori and her mother that they kept the abuse a secret, but surely Dreyfus would have found it suspicious if he kept sending the same runaway back home every time.

 _"_ _Did you forgive?"_ Koba asked, remembering what Tori had done for him in the cell.

 _"_ _I forgave my father years ago. Dreyfus too."_ Tori bit her lip. _"But it's hard to forget when he's still on my back."_

Koba said nothing more, but he reached over and held Tori's hand in his. Tori was silent but returned the gentle hold.

They had arrived at what use to be a park and now looked like a miniature forest. Foster, Stone, Kempt, Rocket, and Blue Eyes were already there-and to their surprise, Caesar was there too! The Ape King was mostly leaning on Rocket and Blue Eyes for support and he looked weary, but he had the same cold and stern face as always. When he and Koba saw each other they both froze.

Caesar's eyes traveled to the red mark on Koba's throat and knew it was from the suicide attempt. Guilt stabbed him the gut, knowing he was the cause of that.

Koba couldn't meet his king's eyes. What's the point? He doesn't see him as an ape anyway. He probably wouldn't forgive him even if he apologized.

 _I didn't mean it._ Caesar wanted to say. He wished there was a way he could let Koba know how sorry he was for not realizing how much pain he was in.

 _I'm sorry._ Those two words were small, but why were they so hard to say? Even if Caesar didn't forgive him, Koba wished the chimp knew he regretted his attempt to kill him.

"Holy shit! Is that it?!" Dreyfus gasped, interrupting them.

The body belonged to a male human who was covered only by a hospital gown, similar to the ones the human children were wearing only older and with old and recent blood stains. His pale skin was covered with old and new scars.

"That's it alright." Said Derek. His expression was unreadable, though the anger was real in his eyes.

"He died yesterday, I think. His body is still fresh." Ellie sounded almost cold. What's happened to her?

No one had to tell her for her to know what to do. Tori walked over to the body and Koba followed. At first, he was going to watch her look for a clue or something from Will, but the scarred bonobo found himself staring at the scars. Why did these scars look so familiar? Koba's eyes then caught one on the human's right arm. Frowning, he turned the human's head and found a scar on his neck.

It can't be. The human's scars mirrored his own. In fact, some of the scars looked like Dolly's, and others looked like Pope's. But how can that be? They got those scars from..!

"Labs..!"

"Koba?" Asked Malcolm.

"Labs," Koba repeated, pointing at one of the scars then at one of his own. "Labs. Human work."

"Human experiments." Malcolm realized what he was saying.

"What?!" The look on Dreyfus' face would have been priceless if the others weren't also horrified.

The Ape Council looked at each other in mute shock. Humans experimenting on other humans?! How could it be possible that humans could torture and torment each other just as they had to apes? Caesar stared at the dead body with concern in his eyes. If Will was among these humans, would they do this to him if they ever found out what he was doing?

"That explains what they're doing to the humans." Said Derek.

Foster looked from the corpse to the others. "Still though, why the heck would they do that?"

Tori noticed something under the dead human's hospital gown and carefully pulled it down, what she saw underneath confirmed her suspicions. "You guys may want to look away, this is going to get gross." She said as she pulled the gown down, revealing a long, ugly stitch up work. It looked like someone had gutted the human in the stomach and then sown back up.

Koba jumped back, startled by how big the wound was. He looked away, not wanting to see it re-opened. He wasn't the only one, most of the others did the same. Except for Derek, who wanted to see what was inside.

"So, these Alpha-Omega people take both humans and apes, but experiment on the humans and make the apes kill each other and turn them into their slaves?" For the first time, there was some genuine concern in his voice as Dreyfus spoke.

"Apparently." Said, Malcolm.

Dreyfus glanced at the corps, then back at Malcolm. "They're out of their fucking minds!"

"There's something messed up about these people, you guys. I don't know what they're thinking, but I think their leader has a loose screw somewhere." Kempt agreed.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Alpha-Omegas are beginning to look worse than the apes."

The flustered words surprised everyone. They all looked at Dreyfus, amazed that he had actually said that. Dreyfus looked around and realized all the apes and humans were now giving him funny looks. "What?"

"..Ok.." Foster walked closer to Dreyfus. "That was literally the best thing you've said in the last two days, man."

Malcolm and Ellie looked at each other. Maybe this means Dreyfus will finally stop picking on Koba and the other apes. Caesar suddenly began to wonder just what has been going on while he was gone.

"Uh, you guys?" Tori sounded strange, almost creeped out.

When they all turned to look, they saw Tori holding up a large, bloody ziplock bag that was filled with DVDs and flash drives. For a moment, they all stared at it. Unsure of what to make of this finding. Even Derek was silent.

It was Kempt that broke the silence. "..I guess we have a lot more work to do now.."

Something in the distance caught Rocket's eye. He took a cautious step forward, his eyes squinting as he tries to identify what he was looking at.

"That's gonna take a while though..Like, hours...Maybe days.." Said Dreyfus, crossing his arms.

"I think we should be more concerned with what's on these things than how much time it'll take to look at them." Said, Derek,

Blue Eyes, Caesar, Maurice, Stone, Luca and Koba just stared at the bag. In their minds, they tried to picture just what sort of horrors could be on them. Torture? Humans being experimented on? Apes killing their families and friends because the humans had driven them mad? Innocent people being murdered for no reason? They all suddenly began to hope that they wouldn't have to see them.

Rocket, now realizing what he was looking at, hooted loudly. When everyone looked at him he quickly signed: _"There's another dead body here!"_

"Two in one day?!" Kempt looked horrified.

Tori put the bag inside a larger, cleaner market bag and then got up from her spot and removed her latex gloves. "As if one wasn't enough." She muttered.

 _"_ _It's not human this time."_ Rocket's signs surprised them. _"It's ape, a chimp."_

Fear jolted in the other apes. Was it one of their own? Pope? Lake? Andy? Lucky?

Rocket lead the group to a small clearing, just a few feet away from where the human body was. The second dead body wasn't, to the Ape Council's relief, an ape they recognized. It was a female chimpanzee with bright brown fur. She was laying face down, so only her backside was visible in the long, green grass. She almost looked like she was sleeping.

Ellie walked over to the female chimp and touched the side of her neck. She shook her head sadly. "She's gone." She said gloomily. She frowned when she noticed something and she gently moved the limp body over. The dead ape's face was now up. The still bleeding wound on her head indicated her fate. Other than that, and the old on top of recent bruises on her face, the dead female didn't have any other wounds on her body. Something that confused all of them.

"That's it? Just a bullet wound?" Asked Foster in disbelief.

"Maybe Will left something in the wound." Offered Kempt.

"I doubt it." Said Derek.

The apes couldn't believe the bruises on the dead female's face. There was at least three of them that may have been only a few days old, but the ones that were yellow with age seemed to take up her entire face. What happened to her?

Ellie's face darkened when she noticed something about the ape's body. Unsure, she carefully touched the female's deflated belly. She knew what this meant, she had seen it too many times to deny it.

"She was pregnant recently." She breathed.

Just then, Caesar saw a flash of something in the grass. Blue Eyes noticed it too, so did Tori and Koba. It was hard to tell because it was so deep within the tall grass, but they could almost see something light brown.

The air seemed to run out suddenly. It was as if the others had stopped breathing. "Well...Where's the baby then?" The fear in his voice was unnerving. Dreyfus was literally shaking as he asked.

"Guys..!" In her mind, Tori hoped that what she and Koba, Blue Eyes and Caesar were looking at wasn't what she thought it could be.

Ellie looked down, her expression twisted into one of deep concern. She reached down into the grass and pulled out a brown blanket all bundled up…It had blood on its front.

 _No..!_ No one spoke it, but they all felt it. The air left their lungs, it was as if no air could get it anymore. _No..!_ By now, all of them knew these humans were evil. These were people who weren't afraid to torture and experiment on their own kind. People who'd force innocent apes to do the unthinkable. They killed, kidnapped and caused enough pain and suffering to make the world scream. But even they couldn't… _wouldn't!…_ Do this, can they?

With shaking hands, Ellie pulled the top of the blanket back-she and the other's immediately gasped and jumped back. They were mortified at what was wrapped inside.

Wrapped in the bundle was a newborn baby…But they couldn't tell if it was ape or human. The baby, a girl, had the body of an ape but the face of a human baby. Her ears were like apes, but were small like a human. Her nose was shaped like a human's but was clearly a snout. Her hands and feet were similar to an ape but were more human-like. But the worst part, the part that threatened to shatter everyone's insides, was the blood running down her tiny nose, and carved down her abdomen were the words: **_ABOMINATION_**

It was like a nightmare. All of them wanted to look away, anywhere but at that baby. But it was as if someone was keeping them from doing so. As if they were all frozen in place. Only to be broken free when Ellie let out a noise that Malcolm never heard her make before. A sort of noise that one would hope to never hear. It was as if the sound had broken some sort of spell on them. It was one after another, when one human fell, another ape fell. They clung to each other as if for dear life. None of them even realized they were all screaming at the same time until their throats died out. Until the roar of their emotions were only an echo in the early morning fog. By then, all that was left of their howls were whimpers.

The Alpha-Omega people had done it. They did the unthinkable. They killed a newborn baby. They crossed a line. A kind of line that no other enemy to the apes had ever crossed. An act that no human would dare comprehend. It didn't matter if the baby was a hybrid or not. If these people can take the life of an innocent newborn…There's no telling what else they're capable of.

Malcolm was the first one to look up. He and Ellie were huddled together. His arms wrapped tightly around her. Caesar and Blue Eyes were doing the same, so were Koba and Tori. Stone was hugging himself. Rocket was hugging Maurice, clutching handfuls of his fur in his hands. Luca's hands were balled up into fists as they pressed against the ground. Derek's face was in his hands. Kempt and Foster were holding each other's hands. Even Dreyfus was on the ground, punching at the green floor.

If they weren't already, they were all close to breaking. Malcolm glanced back at the dead baby girl. At the child whose life was taken from her before she could start it. It's not fair. Even if she was a human-ape hybrid, she didn't deserve to die like this. _No child_ , human, or ape, deserved to die like this.

He kept his gaze on the dead infant until the other's finally recovered from their emotional shrieks. It was only then that Malcolm said the words he knew they were all thinking.

"..We need to stop them.."

"How the hell are we going to do that?!" Dreyfus wheezed. His glasses were clouded with his tears. "Th-These people are monsters! They're crazy! All we got are these stink'en apes! One of which tried to kill the leader!"

"Don't you dare drag Koba into this!" Yelled Tori.

"Shut up, Victoria! That bastard belongs in the jail-!"

 **"** **NO!"** The bellow came from not Caesar, or Blue Eyes...But Ellie. The woman stood up, her hair messy and in her tear-stained face. **"You are NOT putting Koba, or any other ape, back in that jail!"** She yelled at Dreyfus.

"I'm the mayor and I'll do as I see fit!"

 **"** **NO!"** Ellie got right into his face. She was so angry she was trembling. **"Listen up, Dreyfus! I've had it up to here with all this bullshit!"** Ellie waved her hand at her head. **"Ever since the apes first came to the city, all you ever talked about is getting rid of them! This whole time we've been working together, you've been nothing but a total asshole to them!"**

"Koba tried to kill Caesar-!"

 **"** **I DON'T CARE WHAT KOBA DID!"** Ellie roared. **"This isn't about Koba at all! You don't really care if he tried to kill someone or not! You're just looking for any excuse to throw the apes out of the city!"**

 **"** **I had good reason to! They could have killed us!"** Dreyfus was now shouting too.

 **"** **You said it yourself that the Alpha-Omega's are worse than the apes!"** Ellie pointed at the dead bodies. **"They killed a newborn baby, Dreyfus! An innocent child! She probably didn't even live longer than an hour before they murdered her!"**

Dreyfus fell silent. His own words from earlier had come back to haunt him. His nostrils were flaring, and his eyes were full of anger but he couldn't think of a good comeback or anything to contradict Ellie.

Seeing that she was winning, Ellie kept on going. **"These people are a threat to all of us! They'll kill us all if we don't stop fighting each other!"** Huffing and out of breath, Ellie's enraged, tear-filled face was now fixed on the others just as much as it was on Dreyfus. In a voice, shaking with anger, she spoke. "..This needs to stop."

Now it was out. It was words that came from emotions that had been hidden deep within all of them. Slowly building themselves up to the surface with every second of every minute of every hour of every day since the night of the kidnappings. A harsh, face slapping reality that could no longer be ignored. A truth that was so strong, it was undeniable. The air felt clear, but with a new sort of feeling. It was as if a part of the humans and apes had been asleep all this time, and had finally woken up. They all glanced at each other, now with new eyes. In the time they had been fighting each other, how many lives had been lost? How many innocent people had been hurt or broken because of the Alpha-Omega? The apes weren't the human's enemies, neither were the humans to the apes. Koba wasn't the enemy to Caesar, or to the others. The only enemy they had, the _real_ enemy, was McCullough.

They knew what they had to do.

With a sigh, defeated and accepting his new reality, Dreyfus finally said what was needed to be said from him. "As mayor of the city, I pardon Koba from any and all wrongdoing." As much as he hated saying it, Dreyfus knew the others would never let him hear the last of it if he didn't. "He's free to go."

Derek smiled. Finally, after so many days of this stress, Dreyfus had finally seen his error.

No one told him to do it, but Koba knew he had to. Taking a breath and letting it out in a sigh, he said it. "Forgive...You too.."

Dreyfus immediately turned around and looked at him. Their eyes met. Surprise wasn't enough to describe what Dreyfus felt at hearing those words from the scarred bonobo. He hurt him, he emotionally broke this ape down to a point where he almost took his own life…And he forgives him?

For Caesar, this told him that something had changed within Koba. The vengeful, angry ape that he now knew the scarred bonobo had been was gone. In fact, the aura about him felt different. Koba didn't seem angry anymore.

"Koba."

Hesitantly, Koba looked in his direction. The look in his green and milky eyes told Caesar all he needed to know. The one thing Caesar remembered the most when he was suffering the worst of his torture was the look in Koba's eyes when he pointed the gun at him. The hatred, the rage. The desire for war and see innocent humans pay for the crimes of others before them.

And now, as Caesar looked at him. That look was gone. Replaced by guilt, and newly found compassion. It was as if new life was brought back in Koba.

Using all his strength, Caesar began to walk over to the bonobo. Blue Eyes wanted to help him, but he refused it. The Ape King wobbled as he took the steps. He got just a two feet away from Koba before he lost his balance and almost fell but, to his surprise and relief, the scarred bonobo caught him just in time.

Caesar smiled when he looked up at the still unsure ape. "C-Caesar?.."

The Ape King stood back up and, much to Koba's shock touched his forehead to his. The gesture then became a hug when Caesar wrapped his arms around the scarred ape. Giving him a warm and tight embrace.

"You...Are Ape.."

Koba was frozen, unsure if he heard those three words right. Then, the meaning of those powerful words hit him hard as he realized what was happening. Shaking, he returned the embrace. Sniffling as some tears ran from his eyes.

Blue Eyes, beginning to tear up himself, went over to them wrapped his arms around both his father and honorary uncle. Stone joined them. Then Rocket, then Maurice and then Luca. Malcolm and Ellie smiled at what they were seeing. The apes were forgiving Koba...And Koba was forgiving Caesar...Maybe now he finally see's how much the apes care about him.

"Oh what the hell!" Kempt walked over and joined the hugging, none of the apes objected. In fact, they seemed happy to have a human join in.

Foster, inspired by Kempt, moved in as well. Then Derek, Malcolm, and Ellie. Tori was about to but noticed Dreyfus watching with an unsure look. Giggling, she reached over and grabbed the older human's wrist. "Come on, ya Doofus!" She teased as she pulled him in. In seconds, they were all hugging. It was as if the hug meant more than just forgiveness. It felt as if it meant accepting each other, putting everything else aside and finally uniting. No more superior talk, no more blaming each other, no more fighting. Only peace.

No one said a word until they broke the large embrace. "What about the other survivors? And all the other apes?" Asked Foster.

"Tell them the truth." Said Caesar. "They need to know."

Dreyfus understood what he was saying. "We'll gather up the apes and all the humans. We'll tell them together."

Ellie was still looking at the dead bodies of the female ape and her baby. "We can't just leave them out here like this." She said.

"We won't." Said Derek. "We'll bury them." He frowned at the grass that the corpses laid in. "Somewhere more peaceful and happier than here."

Just then, a loud cracking sound broke through the breeze. They all looked around, startled. The park should have been completely empty, not a single soul had dared to cross these grounds since the virus and the riots. Even after that died out, the park had been long empty…Until now.

"What was that?"

"Did someone follow us here?"

"I don't think so-"

Another crack, this time much closer to them. The group got closer together, Luca eyeing their surroundings. Ready to attack if necessary.

"What if it's a soldier?!" Kempt gasped.

"Shit, and we don't have any weapons!" Dreyfus realized in horror.

Suddenly, a figure ran out from the bushes. Causing them to all jump back. None of them knew what it was at first, but when it got closer, they realized it was a chimp…With a wire sticking out of his head?

The ape, a male was running around on his two legs. His face was blank, his eyes weren't blinking. He didn't seem to notice the group of apes and humans standing there-and he didn't notice the tree...Even as he ran into it. Then again. And again.

The group could only stare at him. Dumbfounded.

"What the heck?" Asked Foster.

"Apes, do you guys recognize him?" Dreyfus no longer sounded like his usual self. He sounded disturbed.

"Not one of us." Said Caesar. "Would have recognized him.

Cautiously, Blue Eyes walked over to the still tree-hitting ape. From what they could tell, the ape was an adult but had to be at least two years older than the prince himself. Blue Eyes curiously touched the older male's shoulder with one finger. Suddenly, the ape froze. Sparks popped out of the wire sticking out of his head and he twitched.

" _What's new pussycat? Whoa! What's new pussycat? Whoa, oh!_ " The chimp suddenly sang, causing a startled Blue Eyes to fall backwards.

More sparks shot from the wire and the chimp twitched again. He began singing what sounded like Jingle Bells, only slower and he kept skipping a few words.

It had to be the most bizarre thing the group had seen...Well, so far.

"..Is he ok?" Malcolm was afraid to ask.

"That wire.." Ellie narrowed her eyes. "It must be connected to his brain somehow...It could be picking up radio signals or something."

Another crack, however when the group looked, it was a bonobo standing there. They all gasped when they saw him. The much older male stood as still as the trees. His appearance horrified them: He literally looked like a walking skeleton with his pale skin completing the look. The ugly sores and wounds on his face, arms and body, and the dark circles under his eyes made him look all the more hard to look at. He was looking straight at the group, but his glassy, green eyes were not focused on them. It was as if he was looking right through them. As if he really didn't see them at all.

It took a moment for Derek to recognize him since he had aged and changed so much since his picture was taken, but when he looked closer at those eyes, he knew exactly who this was.

"Guys, that's Carlos." He breathed.

"Holy shit, that's Koba's dad!" Kempt blurted out without thinking.

Koba turned around and looked at them, confused. "My..What?"

Caesar looked at the others too, not understanding what they were talking about.

Before anyone could say anything, one last figure appeared-two in fact. This time, one of them was chimp the Ape Council recognized. Pope. The scarred chimpanzee was dragging an unconscious ape by the foot in one hand and had his arm completely wrapped in another female chimp's own arm. She clung to him so tightly, that her fingers appeared to be turning white.

"Pope!" Caesar never thought he'd ever feel so relieved to see him again, but he was.

"Caesar!" It felt good to finally see the Ape King back to his normal self. Pope could tell he was still sick, but it was a relief to see that he was no longer paranoid or delusional like before.

 _"_ _How did you get out?"_ Asked Rocket as he approached him.

 _"_ _Good humans."_ Pope put the other ape's foot down to sign. _"Will and Preacher, the rebels, helped us."_

The humans looked at each other, astonished. Another mass escape? The very day after the last one? How did they do it without McCullough getting suspicious?

"Hazell."

"What?" Caesar wasn't sure what Pope was saying.

"Hazell." Pope nodded at the dead female chimp. "Her name." There was something in his voice the Ape King didn't expect. Genuine sadness. Since when did Pope care enough to feel sad about another ape dying?

"Her child is dead too." Said Ellie, unable to even look up.

Pope looked at the dead infant, then he looked at the female chimp next to him. She looked concern-no, she looked frightened of the humans, as she was practically hiding behind him. Pope whispered something to her and she, reluctantly, came out of hiding. She wasn't nearly as skinny as Carlos, but her thin body was close to it. She was holding something in her arm, another bundle. She hesitated before handing it over to Rocket. She then shrank back to Pope's side, keeping her eyes on the ground.

Everyone watched as Rocket took off the cover of the bundle. They all gasped in surprised shock. Wrapped inside the cameo blanket, was another human-ape hybrid baby...Only this one, was alive!

"Oh my god!" Ellie rushed over to Rocket, who handed the baby to her. She examined the tiny child but found no wounds on his little body.

"She had twins." Said, Pope. "Didn't know until too late."

The feelings were mixed with the news. One child is dead and will never get to grow up and live her life, but her brother is alive and has a chance to have a normal, happy life.

"Milo."

Koba's voice startled all of them. They thought the scarred bonobo's silence was due to him comprehending the fact that his father, who he never even met, was alive and standing before them. But he was staring at the unconscious chimp on the floor.

"You know him?" Pope asked him.

He was older and had gained more scars since the last time he and Dolly saw him, but Koba recognized the male chimpanzee anywhere.

"Milo." He repeated. "Old friend to Koba and Dolly." He replied.

Laying in the grass, bleeding from a head wound, was indeed Milo.

* * *

 ** _"_** ** _THIS IS AN ABOMINATION! A FREAK OF NATURE! THIS IS THE MONSTROSITY THAT HAPPENS WHEN APES AND HUMANS MIX!"_**

 ** _"_** ** _NO! NO! PLEASE!"_**

 _"_ _I saw it.."_ The desperate and horrified screams of Preacher and Hazell, the pleading cries of the newborn, and McCullough's evil words were still repeating themselves in Pope's mind. It was a scene he knew he'd never be able to forget. _"..The colonel killed them.."_

"How?" Asked Derek.

They were now back in the infirmary. Milo, Carlos, the mysterious chimp with the wire, and the baby boy were being looked at by the healers. Even though the healers, both ape, and human, were shocked to see a human-ape hybrid child, they didn't hesitate to take him in. Dot, the female chimp, refused to be looked at unless Pope was with her-which the scarred chimp didn't seem to mind. Caesar decided to go back to his bed, having lost most of his energy. Something Blue Eyes and Cornelia were relieved about.

While Blue Eyes was with his parents, and Maurice and Koba were in the hallway, Derek and Rocket were talking with Pope as Tinker examined Dot. Whether it was due to her being so skinny, or a result of all the scars and lack of fur on her back was hard to tell, but when Dot bent over, the distinctive bumps of her spine could clearly be seen. Ellie, meanwhile, was assisting the other healers as they looked at Milo, Carlos, the baby and the wire-headed chimp.

 _"_ _He took the baby by her feet.."_ Pope tried not to picture that moment. _"..And slammed her head..Repeatedly...On the ground.."_

 ** _CRACK!_**

That was a horrible noise. The sickening sound of that child's skull-crushing against the concrete was a sound Pope never wanted to hear again.

 _"_ _He forced Preacher to kill Hazell...He didn't want to do it, but the colonel forced him to…"_

 _"_ _How did you and the others get out? How did the other baby survive?"_ Rocket asked.

That was the easier part of the story. There was hope, in the beginning, no one was in any immediate danger and there was a chance they could all be saved.

 _"_ _No one knew Hazell was having twins. They all thought it was just the one."_ Pope started. _"I don't know why they didn't send her out of the base before, but the plan was to send the baby out before anyone knew he had been born. One of the rebels had just placed him in the flying machine when Hazell had the other baby..By then, the colonel had come.."_ Pope stopped there. The memory becoming too much for him and he didn't want to shed any tears in front of a human of all people.

Pope's story only confirmed something in Derek's mind. That these Alpha-Omega people, that McCullough, had truly lost their humanity. Maybe not the type that they valued, but a type that matters so much more than simply being seen as a person.

With a sigh, Pope looked up at Derek. For the first time, meeting his eyes. "Pope seen lots of bad humans in life. Been hurt by them too. But that McCullough human…He's the worst Pope ever saw."

"I agree with you." Said Derek. "That's why we're going to stop them."

* * *

 _"_ _Dolly is awake you know."_ Maurice signed to Koba. _"She wants to see you."_

Koba's teeth were bitting at his lower lip. In the cell, he longed for his sister's company. For the comfort he knew his twin would provide. But after all that had happened, his attempt to kill Caesar, and his attempt to kill himself, he wondered if he even deserved a sister like her.

 _"_ _Does she know about…What I tried to do?"_ He asked hesitantly.

 _"_ _Not yet, but she'll find out sooner or later."_

Koba only nodded, knowing he was right. It was usually easy to keep small things from his sister. But if a secret was big enough, it wouldn't take much for Dolly to figure it out.

Sensing his worry, the orangutan place a hand on the slightly shorter ape's shoulder. _"Your sister loves you, Koba. You and I both know that's not going to change so easily."_

 _"_ _She's also faithful to Caesar."_ Koba had been too-and technically, was again, but back when he was plotting to kill Caesar, Dolly was certainly much more faithful to their Ape King than her brother was. Koba had deliberately kept her out of his plans for that very reason. He knew that if she had known what he was up to, she would have tried to reason with him and if that failed, she would have warned Caesar herself. _"What if she disowns me as her brother?"_

 _"_ _She wouldn't do that."_ Maurice had a feeling Dolly would still love her brother. Even if he had done the unthinkable. _"Go and talk to her and you'll see."_

He still wasn't sure, but also knew he couldn't just avoid the subject all together. Reluctantly, Koba agreed.

* * *

"How are they?" Malcolm asked when Ellie came out of the room where the newest apes had been brought in.

"Oh gosh, where do I start? Umm.." Ellie cleared her throat, thinking. She decided to go from least, to worst injury-wise. Because Dot was so afraid of the humans, Ellie didn't get to examine her, so Tinker had agreed to do it and tell Ellie about it as soon as she was finished. "The baby is fine, aside from mild hunger and slight coldness. As far as we could tell, he was born healthy." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tag. "He had this wrapped around his wrist."

Malcolm looked at the tag as she handed it to him. It appeared to be a strap of paper, held together by a single strip of tape. In desperate handwriting, it read: **_Hopely_**

"Hopely?" He asked.

"I think it's his name." Said Ellie.

The name sounded like a male version of the name 'Hope'. Considering he was a human-ape hybrid, and the only child of Hazell and Preacher to have left the base alive, and what they were all fighting for, the name felt appropriate.

"Where's his father?"

"Pope last saw him alive. I don't think we should assume otherwise for now." Ellie hoped Preacher would get out of that base. If he truly is alive, than he wouldn't be for long.

"And the others?"

Relieved for a change of subject, Ellie went on to the next ape. "The chimp with the wire-I really don't know how he got that in there, but it's probably from being an experiment in labs." If that's the case, Ellie hoped they weren't dealing with another ape like Koba. If they were, then Ellie wanted to make sure they could help him. "Aside from the wire, he doesn't appear to have anything else wrong with him."

"What about that chimp Koba called Milo?"

"He suffered a bad head wound, possibly from being hit by a blunt instrument. Most likely a crowbar." Ellie could only assume he got that during the escape. "He has other old wounds on his body, mostly whip marks on his back. The worst of them is his mouth."

"His mouth?"

"Some of his teeth are missing. If not, then broken."

"Could that have been from torture?" Malcolm suddenly remembered going to the dentist in the old days. Long before apes weren't smart. When he was a child himself. Back then, the dentist was always a scary thing and it was always easy to picture them as a creepy guy with sharp tools, meant to cause pain rather than help people. What if that's what happened to Milo?

Ellie shrugged. "Hard to say. But I did find a piece of metal stuck in his gums."

"Metal? From braces?"

"I don't know, but it was in there a long time and was causing an infection." Ellie frowned at her own words. "Something tells me he's seen the 'dark side' of humans too."

"Sounds like it." Agreed Malcolm. "Speaking of apes that are connected to Koba, how's Carlos?"

That one was the worst out of the group. Ellie never thought she'd ever see an ape, or any other person, as in bad shape as Carlos was. In fact, she hadn't seen anyone in such horrible condition as Carlos since the virus. "He's a mess." She started. "The sores and wounds on his body are commonly found on people who abuse drugs."

"Drugs?"

"I think McCullough has been giving Carlos Meth or Cocaine or both. He may have also been giving him alcohol, I noticed he was showing some signs of Alcoholism."

"Why? would he do that?" And how the heck did McCullough get a hold of such drugs when resources for something as little as food was so rare?

"My best guess is, he was trying to make him submissive." Ellie crossed her arms. "Carlos had been in McCullough's captivity for ten years and, from the sound of it, didn't have much of a life before that anyways. He must have allowed himself to be brainwashed by McCullough. He was under his thumb." She sighed. "I don't think he even knew he had children."

 _No wonder._ Malcolm thought. If Carlos didn't know about Koba and Dolly's existence's, and he didn't have a happy life to begin with, than he really must have had no motivation to try and leave McCullough's control. He basically was allowing himself to waste away, waiting for his life to end without realizing what he was leaving behind.

"So..What do you think he's going to do when he finds out about Koba and Dolly being his son and daughter?" He asked.

Ellie wished she had an answer for that. In her mind, she imagined a worse case scenario and an ideal case scenario: The worst case being Carlos denies his children's existence and doesn't even recognize the twins as his. The ideal one being him immediately changing and abandoning his addictions so he could live and be the father Koba and Dolly needed. Ellie wanted the ideal case scenario, but even if that were to happen, she knew Carlos couldn't just give up his addictions that easily.

"I don't know." Was truly all she could tell Malcolm.

* * *

 _It's him._ Dolly knew it the second she saw the unconscious male that it was Milo. He was placed in the bed next to hers, presumably because they knew she knew him. She just sat there, watching as he slept. The only movement Dolly made as she looked at him was her chest when she inhaled and exhaled air.

Her mind began to wander to the darkest corners of her memories. To the places she thought she'd never visit again. Back to a place she never wanted to return to.

 _Flashback:_

 _Tommy forgot to feed them again today. It wasn't the first time. Sometimes, Tommy would go out and be gone for hours and then return when it was dark. This was one of those days._

 _Dolly shifted on her two feet uncomfortably. She felt as if her feet were becoming attached to the bottom of the cage. As if the hard metal would eventually bend the skin, tear apart the muscle, and breath through the bone._

 _When she glanced at the cage next to her, she saw Koba. Head leaning against the wall of his cage as he tries to sleep. His plush kitten held tightly in his hand. The only thing left of Mother he could cling to. Dolly use to have a stuffed kitten of her own, but she lost it and she couldn't remember when she last saw it._

 _In the cage next to Koba's was Milo. Though Dolly couldn't see what he was doing, she knew he was there._

 _Tommy appears then, but instead of letting them out of their cages, he sits down in front of them. He's holding a plate in his hands, and there's something on it that Dolly can't identify but it smells good. So good, that the sweet aroma wakes up Koba._

 _Tommy laughs at them. "Ya like that smell, apes? It's sausage. Too bad you guys can't have any." He teased._

 _Dolly's stomach came alive with hunger. When she looked at Koba, she saw his eyes were huge as he gazed at the sausages. She could feel his hunger as clearly as she felt her own. She wished she could get that food._

 _Suddenly, there was a knocking sound. Tommy cursed and placed his plate down as he got up. The second he was gone, there was a soft click from next to Koba. Both twins looked at realized Milo had somehow unlocked his cage._

 _The chimp glanced at the two of them, then walked over to the plate and took the two remaining sausages. He handed one to Koba and another to Dolly. "Eat quickly." He signed._

 _Neither said a word as they wolfed down the delicious meat. In their starvation, it tasted like the best thing ever._

 _Milo crept back to his cage as quickly as he left it and closed the door behind himself._

 _When Tommy reappeared, he looked at his plate and frowned. He glanced at the three apes then back down and picked up the white china. "How did..?" He asked himself as he walked away. Seemingly unsure as to how his plate was empty when the apes were locked up._

 _Koba and Dolly looked at Milo again. Who was looking back at them. "Good?" He asked._

 _"_ _Good." They both answered._

 _End of Flashback:_

Dolly realized at that moment that she and Koba never properly thanked Milo for his kindness or for his courage to do share it. Milo could have seriously gotten hurt. If Tommy had come back before he gotten in his cage, Milo would have been punished. And since his last punishment was to have his mouth wired shut, Dolly knew his second punishment would have been worse.

He was older than them, but not by much. He wasn't related to them, but Milo was like a second brother to Dolly. But most of all, his company made her feel like she was protected. They worked as a trio when they lived with Tommy, each one of them leaning on each other's shoulders. Dolly felt like she had to protect Koba, but Milo protected them both.

"Dolly." The second she heard his voice, she immediately turned around and hugged him. Her heart skipped a beat with happiness as she was finally reunited with her brother. "Koba." She replied.

Dolly's hug settled something in Koba. A loneliness that he had forgotten about in the last hours but had felt that night in the cell, and all the days he had spent without her. He held on to her as he breathed in her scent. Letting the relief wash over him live the ocean at the beach washed over the sand.

"..Missed you.." He whispered, and he meant it.

"Missed you too." Said Dolly.

When they pulled away, Dolly quickly asked: "What. Happened. To Milo?"

"Don't know." Koba wished he knew, but he also was glad he didn't. The last thing he needed right now was a new reason to hate humans again, and he had just started to forgive them as is. "Not. Important. Right now." He knew it was time to tell her.

Dolly blinked in surprise at him. Before she could ask why, Koba started signing to her. _"I'm sorry."_ He couldn't bare to say the words out loud. _"I'm sorry I didn't protect you that night, Dolly. And I'm sorry I tried to kill Caesar."_

Dolly's eyes widened. Koba was about to sign something again, but she stopped him. _"Why?"_ She asked. _"Why did you do it?"_

 _"_ _I wanted revenge and start a war, and he wouldn't agree with me."_

Dolly huffed, from the shock of her brother's revelation and from her own growing emotions. _"Ok, why did you want that in the first place?"_

 _"…_ _Because I was angry.."_ Koba could barely look at her as he signed. _"..I was still mad at them for what happened to us and I wanted them to suffer the way we suffered…I tried to tell Caesar that, but he wouldn't listen-"_

 _"_ _Why didn't you just tell ME?"_ That didn't make sense. Why would Koba tell Caesar his worries, and not his own sister?

Koba gulped. He could already feel her frowning at him. _"..I was afraid you wouldn't listen either…I know that's stupid, but that's how I felt.."_

At first, Dolly was annoyed with him. She went through the exact same hell as him, suffered the same pain and met the same bad side of the humans as he had. Why wasn't that enough to let him know that she **_DID_** understand?! That she **_WOULD_** listen?! That if he needed someone to hold his hand, he didn't have to look any further than right where she stood?!…But then, she realized something…Compared to her, Koba never showed the feelings she felt. While Dolly didn't harbor any ill-will to the humans, she would often have nightmares about the past. She never felt anger, only sadness and wishful thinking. But no matter how much pain she felt, she didn't express it either, and it wasn't that Dolly felt distrust towards Koba or anyone else if she had to share them, it was just that it hurt to think about it and she'd rather not bring it up to anyone.

The realization suddenly hit Dolly harder than she ever thought it could.

…Koba didn't talk to her about his feelings…Because _SHE_ hadn't talked about her own with him…And it was more than that!..It was as if they both knew that he was angry and she was sad, but neither of them thought, or considered, talking to each other about it!..

"…Do you..Hate me?.." Koba asked in a shaky, unsteady voice.

"..Koba..!" Dolly pulled her younger twin into another hug. "No..!" She wheezed as tears began to roll down her face. "L-Love you..! Koba, Dolly's brother..!..N-nothing..Will ever..Change that..!"

Koba couldn't help it. He wrapped his arms around her, not caring at all that he was shedding tears again. Having been crying a lot lately, Koba found that the vulnerable action made him feel calmer afterwards.

They stayed like that for only a moment before Koba pulled away again, needing to tell her more. _"I..I tried to kill myself last night!"_ He was shaking so much that his signs were almost hard to read. _"I was overwhelmed with guilt and-! And Caesar, Dreyfus and the solider in the jail broke me down and-! I just-!"_ Koba only stopped rambling when he saw the look on Dolly's face.

"D-Dolly?" He sniffled. Koba had seen his sister cry before, but the sad look on her face was more painful than it had ever been.

What the female bonobo was a scary mix of panic, of extreme guilt, of terrible despair and..Something much more. She grabbed Koba and almost squeezed the life out of him. Her sobs becoming so hard her body shook. Something that frightened the scarred bonobo just a little bit.

"K-Koba!" She cried. She practically buried her face in his shoulder, just as he had done so many times before. "Don't! You! Ever! Do that! Again!" She gasped for air, making awful hiccuping noises as she did. "N-Need! You, Koba! P-Please! Don't! Leave! Me!"

 _No one would miss you if you were gone. Dolly would be better off without me._ Koba now realized just how wrong he was. The horrible mistake he had almost made. How untrue the lies were. It was only now, with Dolly sobbing on him, that the scarred bonobo realized how much he meant to his sister…She needed him, just as much as _he_ needed _her_. Maybe even more than he dared to imagine.

…If he had killed himself last night…He truly…would have…Abandoned his own sister..

"Dolly." He hugged her again, calming himself down just enough to comfort her. All that love she ever gave him throughout the years, he could finally return it to her. "Koba…Won't leave..You.." He promised.

It felt as if their roles had been switched. Now Dolly was the one needing comfort and protection, and Koba had to be strong for her. It was strange, but it felt right.

Koba didn't dare let go of Dolly as she cried on him. He just kept his arms wrapped around her in the same protective and loving embrace she had always sheltered him in. She soaked his fur with her tears but he didn't care. If anything, each tear she shed told Koba that he _was_ loved. That someone _does_ care if he were gone or not. That he _was_ needed.

He didn't let go until she pulled away. Dolly sniffed as she dried her tears. Koba hadn't seen her cry so hard since Ishmael left, though it felt like she was crying even harder now than she did back then.

 _"_ _Is there anything else I should know about?"_ She asked through sign.

 _"_ _Just one more."_ Signed Koba, before quickly adding. _"But it's not about me-I mean it is, but not like the other things and it involves you too."_

At this, Dolly blinked. Drying off the last of her tears. Listening.

 _"_ _It's our father..He's alive."_

"What?" Dolly gasped. "Where. Was. He?"

"Prisoner. At base." It felt even crazier saying it out loud than it did having the new information roaming around in his head. "Bad humans, take him. Long ago. Ten winters ago."

Dolly could hardly believe what she was hearing. Their father, the one parent who was complete stranger to them. An ape who didn't exist in their lives, was suddenly not anymore? "Who. Is. He?"

"Carlos." Koba nodded in the direction of said ape. "He's here."

Dolly turned her head. In the hallway, leading to another room, was Carlos. Her eyes boggled as she looked at him. Taking in his features. How did this happen to him? The older bonobo had been standing there ever since Ellie had finished examining him. He was listening to no one, ignoring the world around him. Until…Until he heard his name in the distance and looked up. Even in his glassy, detached gaze, he saw the younger twin bonobos far off in the distance. Suddenly, he saw nothing else.

"He's hurt." Dolly said, now looking back at her twin.

"I know. Bad human's leader. Did something. To him."

"Koba. Dolly." The voice startled them. When they looked up, they saw that Carlos was now standing closer to them. The three bonobos stared at each other for seemingly a very long time, before Carlos reached over and place one hand on Koba's cheek and the other on Dolly's.

The boney hands felt cold but smooth to the twins. It felt different, but neither pulled away from the new touch.

Carlos kept his eyes on them both. In his mind, he erased the scars and replaced Koba's blind eye with a regular one. They both had his green eyes, he knew that. But their noses, their mouths, their ears and just the way their faces were shaped…That was all hers..

"You. Look. Like. Your mother." He finally said. "Both. Of you."

Tina. Carlos had tried so hard to forget about her, but she remained a ghost in his mind nonetheless. Carlos had been forced to mate with many females in his life, most of which he forgotten the names of and what they looked like. But Tina was the only one who he truly loved and was heartbroken when he was taken away from her.

These two bonobos in front of him..Resembled Tina.

It took a minute for the twins to register what Carlos had just said to them. Koba blinked and fresh, new tears ran down his face. Same with Dolly. But these tears weren't of heartache. They were a mix of remembering their mother, and feeling happiness at finally knowing and being with their father.

Carlos pulled them both into a hug, which the twins carefully returned. Wrapping their arms around his delicate, fragile body with a gentle touch. They stayed like that, holding each other in a warm, bonding embrace.

The few others that were in the room, Caesar, Blue Eyes, Malcolm and Ellie (who had entered the room upon realizing Carlos had wandered inside), looked on. They had only started paying attention to the bonobos when Carlos approached the twins, and watching them hug was a beautiful thing.

Maybe Carlos would be alright after all. He still had a long way to go before he fully recovers from all the years of drugs and alcohol and the control McCullough had over him, but maybe having his son and daughter with him will give him the strength to heal and the reason to fight his additions.

* * *

Once again, Derek decided to question the solider-also known as John McCullough. But this time, Dreyfus wanted to join. Earlier that morning, Derek had found information about Colonel McCullough, but very little. From what the file said, Colonel McCullough was a US Military colonel who's wife had died from the virus and both he and his son fell off the grid ever since. Suspiciously, many of the files document were missing and Derek had no way of knowing if they were simply misplaced, or were stolen.

"So tell us, John." Derek started as he and Dreyfus sat down across from him. "Does your father kill all newborn babies, or just the ones that are hybrids?"

John laughed. "Ha! Hybrids?" He asked. "What kind of a question is that?"

"An honest one." Dreyfus answered, completely ignoring the sarcasm in John's voice. "We just found a dead, human-ape hybrid baby. Killed by your father."

"See right there? Now I know you two are playing tricks on me." Said John defiantly. "My father would never kill a baby. Sure he'd take them from their mothers at birth, but he'd never actually harm them..At least, not until they're older."

Dreyfus looked at Derek, who nodded. Time for the big guns. Dreyfus pulled out a picture and slid it over to the solider.

John's expression changed as he gazed at the picture of Hazell's dead body. "Hazell, what a shame." He said. "She was pregnant too, her child was to be the first child servant in the base."

"She gave birth before she died." Said Derek, sliding the next picture to him. "That's the child your father murdered."

At the picture of the dead infant, John's eyes widened. "Holy shit!" He gasped. He looked up at them. "Hybrids can happen?! Are there any more?!"

Derek and Dreyfus deliberately kept Hopely out of the conversation. They didn't want to risk John tracking him down and finishing him off.

"Does your father kill babies?" Derek asked instead.

John slumped back. He stared at the two pictures in stunned silence. He shook his head. "I don't..I don't understand." He looked back up at them. "I know my father does a lot of.. _Questionable_ things, but killing babies was never one of them..Not before anyway."

"Did your father know hybrids were possible?" Asked Dreyfus.

"No." John shifted in his chair. "..All humans who don't follow him are weak, and all apes are threats..M-Maybe he saw that child as a threat to the human race, but..But killing it? Who does that?!" As his son, John had seen his father order the kidnappings of thousands of people and torture even more. Both humans and apes. He had seen him mutilate and destroy the bodies of humans in the name of science and brainwash ales to a point where they couldn't think for themselves or have any basic control of their own left. But killing a newborn baby?..That was a new low..Something John never thought his father would ever do.

 _He's not denying._ Derek and Dreyfus had the same realization. _He just didn't think his father would go that far._ That told them that, as far as John knew, McCullough had not killed newborns before.

"What's..What's going to happen now?" John asked as the two men got up.

"We're going to get justice for Hazell and her baby." Said Derek. "And you're going to tell us everything we need to know about your father."

The two walked out of the interrogation room. As much as Dreyfus and Derek wanted to talk to John, it would just have to wait for now. They had other, more important matters, to attend to.

* * *

The crowd was chaotic before the group could get up on the balcony. The ground was crowded with humans, whole the rooftops and buildings had apes everywhere. It was the only way they could think of that would keep the two colonies from possibly lashing out at each other. It worked, but some were still giving each other dirty looks.

Luca, Blue Eyes, Rocket, Maurice, Koba and Stone were being led by Caesar, who was still not feeling well but was strong enough to participate anyways. As leader, it was his duty to do this no matter how bad he felt.

Malcolm, Ellie, Derek, Tori, Foster, Kempt and Dreyfus were already there. They all looked anxious, the same way the apes themselves felt.

"What if this doesn't work?" Asked Kempt.

"It. Has to." Said Blue Eyes.

But they all knew it could go very wrong. These were people who for the last ten years, feared and hated each other. Humans fearing the apes would one day wipe them out, either by their own natural strength or by the virus (which was mostly believed by the idiots) and the apes hated the humans for all the years of living in their dark side they had endured. Whose to say that they wouldn't take the opportunity to get revenge?

"We may want to lock up the guns." Foster suggested. "Or at least, give them to those who stand on guard."

"They don't need guns to kill." Said Tori, remembering the knife she used to kill one of the soldiers. "They could use other weapons too."

Dreyfus sighed, preparing himself. He had given many speeches before but none quite like this. He turned and looked at Caesar. "You ready?" He asked.

"Yes." Said Caesar. If he felt sick, he had Blue Eyes to continue for him. Caesar originally didn't want him to, but Blue Eyes and Cornelia insisted on it and he had found he was wasting more energy arguing with them than he was just standing up.

He and Dreyfus walked over to the balcony gate, now being seen by the entire crowd. Dreyfus gripped the announcement speaker tightly in his hand. He had offered one to Caesar, but the Ape King knew he could be heard by all even without the thing.

"Everyone!" Dreyfus shouted into the announcement speaker. "Everyone! The apes aren't here to hurt you!-"

"Then what the hell are they here for?!" Someone yelled out, followed by a _Yeah!_ by the others.

"For! Our safety!" Bellowed Caesar, silencing the crowd.

Now, with everyone listening, Dreyfus cleared his throat and tried again. "For the past several days, my colleagues and I have been working with the Ape Council to figure out who these people are!..Based on what we've learned, we..!" He couldn't get the words out.

Screw it!

"..Listen everyone! These people are the Alpha-Omega..! We all remember them as a terrorist group that started most of the fighting between us!..They've changed since then, they are now led by Colonel McCullough, a former Senior US Military Colonel! We still don't know why they kidnapped some of us, but they are a danger to both humans and apes!"

"Enslave apes!" Said Caesar. "Torture humans! Alpha-Omega! Don't care! Who they kill! Kill anyone!"

"How can they be any worse than you?!" One human yelled at the Ape King. "You and all your monkeys infected half of the planet with the Simian Flu! Because of you, most of us are dead!"

"Apes! Do not wish death! On humans!" Caesar tried not to show how mad he was at that human.

Dreyfus took over, saving Caesar from the anger. "If you all think Caesar and the apes are the enemy, you're wrong! Just this morning, we found a dead infant's body in the park! This was a newborn child! She only lived a few moments before McCullough crushed her skull on concrete! No child deserves that!" Dreyfus kept the part of the child being a hybrid because he feared if he mentioned it, it would cause something other than the point he was trying to make. "If these people can do that, what else do you think they can do?! How far do you think they can go?!"

That did it. The survivors were all glancing at each other. Those with children of their own, held them tightly. The apes all around them, big and small, gorillas, chimps, bonobos, and orangutans, were silent. But then, they began hooting. Making sad, long noises.

"What are they doing?" Asked Ellie.

"Mourning." Blue Eyes answered.

The humans in the crowd were all looking up at the apes, watching them. The apes were mourning the death of a child who wasn't even born in their colony. A child that could have been ape or human. Grieving the loss of a small life that they didn't even know. It was moving, some of the humans were beginning to shed tears of their own.

Dreyfus and Caesar gave them time to mourn as their audience took in the news.

"Is it working?" Malcolm hoped the shared grief was a good sign.

"Don't know." Said Dreyfus.

 _"_ _They agree the child's death was wrong, that's a good start."_ Signed Maurice.

 _"_ _And how she died was wrong."_ Added Rocket.

Koba was scratching at one of his old scars, an old habit that only showed it's ugly head when his mind was elsewhere. Tori was tempted to reach over and stop him but paused. She looked at his scars, remebering that it were humans who gave him those scars. She glanced over at the other apes on the rooftops. They had scars too. But so did the humans, only theirs came from the virus.

Taking a breath, Tori walked over to where Dreyfus and Caesar stood and took the ancouncement speaker from the mayor. Dreyfus was about to scold her, but stopped when he saw the look in her eyes. The look was something he had never seen in her before.

She was taking a big risk, by doing what she was going to do, Tori knew she was setting herself up to be a target for anymore vengeful apes and as the daughter of one of their tormentors, she knew many of them would love to see her suffer the way her father made them. But it was a risk she had to take. If she didn't do it, she doubted anyone would.

"You don't have to fear each other!" She chose her words carefully. "I know you all feel resentment towards one another, but you don't need too!"

Wait, that was Tori's voice. Koba looked up, surprised to see her standing with Caesar and Dreyfus. What was she doing?

Maurice, Rocket, Luca, Stone and Blue Eyes were watching too, so were the others. They could only hope she knew what she was doing, whatever to was.

"My name is Tori, and my father was Steven Jacobs! He was killed by an ape, but he was a cruel man!" Tori kept Koba's identity a secret. "He tortured apes in his lab and he treated my mother and I no differently! It's humans like him that gave apes reason to fear and hate us!" Her voice was beginning to get shaky and her heart felt as if it were in her throat. She needed to get to the point.

"Ever since the virus started, ever since the day my mother died, people have told me that the apes were to blame! That they were monsters! And then I met the Ape Council, and even though they never said it, I could tell they thought we, the humans, were the monsters! But I look around, and all I see are a bunch of people, humans and apes, who are too scared of each other to see that there is no difference between their two colonies! Look around you!"

The humans glanced around. First at each other, but their are met the apes who were looking down at them. They all had the same look to them.. A look that held no fear, no anger and no hate. It was a thoughtful look.

"They are us! And we are them! There are no monsters among us!" Tori hoped they were understanding her. "The only monster we have to fear, is McCullough and the Alpha-Omegas and if anyone thinks otherwise, then you're not looking hard enough!" With that, Tori gave the announcement speaker back to Dreyfus and disappeared back into the shadows.

The two leaders looked at each other. Then, Caesar picked up where Tori left off. "Apes! And Humans! Can destroy them! Together!" He bellowed. "We! Have! A chance! At peace! If! We unite!"

At that, many of the humans looked around at the apes. They all looked confused and unsure.

Dreyfus joined in. "We know it sounds crazy! But there coms a time when an evil is too great to fight alone, that we must team up with our enemies to fight it!" The crowd was now looking up at them, the looks on their faces was unreadable but they were listening. "One of the laws in the ape colony is, Apes Together Strong! We survivors have our own law: No one Gets Left Behind! The-These laws sound different, but they mean the same thing! They mean we protect each other, that we stand by one another!"

"Now! Is the time! To follow! These laws!"

The silence made them both nervous. It made Dreyfus wonder if what they said made any sense at all and Caesar worry they didn't say enough. It was deafening. Even the apes, who had mourned the hardest for the baby's lost life, were now silent.

Until…

"I'll fight alongside the apes!" Said one of the humans, who Dreyfus recognized as Josh-one of the volunteers who read through the files.

"So will I!" Said Liana.

"Me too!" Said another voice.

Some of the apes began hooting again, and Caesar knew right then that they had convinced them.

In seconds, the entire crowd of humans and apes were cheering. Malcolm smiled, chuckling in disbelief. Ellie hugged him tightly, relived that the two colonies were agreeing with them.

"Yes!" Whispered Kempt.

Foster just smiled, laughing along.

Tori felt Koba's hand wrap around her own hand and she gave his larger fingers a gentle squeeze, grateful for the warmth and reassurance she felt from him.

Dreyfus and Caesar glanced at each other, smiling. They did it. Somehow, they did it! Turning back to the crowd, Dreyfus put the announcement speaker to his mouth one last time.

"Then! As mayor of this city-!"

"And as king of the apes!" Caesar joined.

"We hereby declare our two colonies as one colony! Humans and apes!"

"United we stand!" The two of them said those last three words together as the crowd exploded in more cheering and hooting.

* * *

The tree was right in front of the gates. It took a while to get it in there, as they had to break the street floor in order to dig a hole big enough to contain it, and the humans and apes had to work together to chop it down and carry it all the way to the city, but they managed to get it and hold it up with rope from the other buildings. Dreyfus thought decorating to would be the second hardest part, but it turned out to be fun: Everyone helped out, and even though most of the apes had never heard of a Christmas tree, they eagerly took part in decorating it.

"I stand corrected." Said Dreyfus, as he watched the decorating from afar. "Using Christmas as a way to celebrate us uniting with the apes was a brilliant idea."

"Everyone seems to love it." Agreed Malcolm.

It felt like the Christmas celebration meant something for everyone, humans and apes. It meant unity, but it also meant hope, peace and happiness. Ever since the virus first started, no one celebrated Christmas because they lost so many family members and friends and when that happened, the holiday became a time for grieving and loss rather than joy. What good is a holiday when one has no one to spend it with? But now, after ten years of it being a distant and sad memory, Christmas was finally back and it felt like there was hope again.

"I'm still worried we might be celebrating too soon though." Dreyfus said after a minute. "What if we get carried away? What are we celebrating anyway? After all that's happened so far, what is there to celebrate?"

"Well, lets see." Malcolm replied. "We've restored power, Caesar, Ash, Dolly, Pope, Pinto, Pepper, Harper and all the children from the base are all here, Dot, Carlos and Cooper have joined us, Koba is finally forgiving the humans for what happened to him, we stopped the machine attack, we have one AO Solider in our custody, Hopely survived and is now with us, the apes and the humans united," Malcolm's smile grew with each thing he listed. "And for the first time, we finally have a chance at defeating the Alpha-Omega group and we could, potentially, have peace between us and Caesar's colony. That sounds like enough reason to celebrate to me."

"Ok, maybe but still. What if something happens tonight?"

"Nothing will, we have the Gorilla Guard and other humans on guard, and a patrol in the area." Ever since they united, the now joined colonies had improved the security. Next to the Gorilla Guard, some of the humans had volunteered to assist the gorilla's in guarding the city while some of the apes and other humans had organized a group to patrol outside of the city and in the Muir Woods to search for any incoming danger or anymore dead bodies. So many people from both colonies wanted to help that Malcolm wondered if they had more of them outside rather than inside the city. If the Alpha-Omega people wanted to attack them, they had a head start before those soldiers could show themselves.

Dreyfus allowed a smiled to grace his face. "I guess you're right..Though all these lights we're going to use are going to use up all the power for the night."

"It'll be worth it." Said Malcolm. Knowing that even when the lights go out, they won't be surrounded by darkness.

* * *

By nightfall, the tree was covered from head to toe with decorations. Some were old and long forgotten ornaments, and some were made by the apes or by the humans. They were all different from each other, but they were beautiful, and they covered the tree in harmony.

When all the apes and all the humans were gathered, Dreyfus, Malcolm and Caesar knew it was time. "Werner! Now!" Dreyfus called out.

Werner connected the last of the cable cords, and then flipped on the light.

The crowd of humans and apes gasped in awe. The tree came alive with a bright glow as the lights came on. Of course, the large tree was covered with different kinds of lights, some were just yellow, and some were of various different colors, but they glowed brightly like a rainbow of fireflies. It was magic.

"Nice." Said Finney. He grabbed Dreyfus and dragged him over to the stairs, presumably to join the party.

Caesar only smiled as he watched the celebration. Some of his apes were dancing, others were laughing, but all of them were enjoying themselves.

"Have you ever celebrated Christmas before?" Malcolm asked him.

"Yes, many times." Caesar remembered all the Christmases he had ever celebrated with Will, Caroline and Charles. Back then, he loved it because he always got new toys and new books, and lots of cookies. Now, he just loved the harmony and the peace the holiday meant. He suddenly wished Will was here to celebrate this Christmas with him and his family.

Seeing the missing in the Ape King's eye's, Malcolm reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You miss Will, don't you?"

Caesar sighed and nodded.

"..What was he like? As a father, I mean."

Caesar was silent for a moment. Will was so much more than just his adoptive father. He was the first person to have ever believed in him. The one who gave him so much confidence and love. While other humans saw an ape, Will saw a special person in him. In a way, Will's love made Caesar who he was now. "A good man...Like you." He replied.

* * *

Koba was watching from a distance, one of his bear skins was wrapped around his body to keep him warm from the cold air. Dolly was still in the infirmary, having decided to spend the holiday with their father. Koba was going to do that too, but got restless after a while and decided to go outside and see the tree everyone was so excited about. He was one of the apes who helped chop it down and bring it to the city, but he hadn't seen what the others had done with it since then. The tree had to be the most amazing and bright thing the scarred bonobo had ever seen humans and apes create together and he couldn't help but smile at it.

"Nice bear skin." Said a familiar voice. Koba turned his head and saw Tori walking over to him. Despite how cold it was, she wasn't wearing anything warm.

"Cold?" He asked.

"A little." But Koba could see her shivering. She wasn't fooling him that easily.

He took off the bear skin and placed it on her shoulders. "For you." He said.

Tori was surprised. "But this is yours, aren't you going get cold?"

He shook his head, smiling at her. "Have others. You. Can have. it." Koba didn't want to think about just how many bear skins he accommodated throughout the years. He just knew that he had enough to keep cozy in the winter. He had discovered his bear killing talent when a bear attacked him in the first year after he was freed. He wasn't as good back then as he was now, and had almost lost his only good eye at the time, but he came home with a dead bear anyways and he and Dolly slept warmly that night.

"Well, alright. Thank you." Tori pulled the dead bear's head over hers as if it were a hoodie. She wrapped the skin around one shoulder but pulled Koba in next to her so he'd still be warm.

Their shoulders touched and they froze. Both of them feeling awkward all of a sudden but trying not to show it. His black fur tickled her while her skin felt soft against his own.

The glow from the Christmas tree lights illuminated their faces. In the distance, Bon and Rex were laughing about something. Stone's silhouette was further away, but Koba could see the chimp dancing with some of the others. Maurice was hesitant about joining in, but Stone pulled him in anyways. Koba hadn't seen his fellow apes so happy since the celebration for Cornelius' birth, though they all seemed even happier now than they did on that day. Tori couldn't remember the last time she saw the other survivors this happy. Happiness was a rare but cherished thing in the human colony, any speck of it would be held on tightly by all those who had it and shared until it was gone.

That's when she remembered why she came over to Koba. "I got something for you." She said, taking the ape out of his thoughts.

Koba looked at her, eyebrow raised. She handed him something small and soft. Wait, was that?..It can't be!

But it was! In Koba's hands was his old stuffed kitten. The one he use to have as a young child. The one Mary gave him.

"..How..Did you..?" He asked, shocked that Tori had found it. Koba had lost this toy years ago. He last saw it in his cage, and never got the chance to retrieve it. The stuffed animal was cleaned recently, he could smell the soupy smell on it. Although Tommy had ripped it's head off, it was now sown back on it's body. The stitches so small, Koba could hardly tell they were there. On the kitten's foot, in Mary's stitch work, read **_Koba_**.

"Tommy's address was in your file." Tori explained. "The house hadn't been touched since he died, it was still in one of the cages." She smiled at him. "I thought you'd like it back."

Koba held the stuffed kitten to his neck. He was much bigger now, and the stuffed toy was much smaller than he remembered, but he hugged it all the same. "..Thank you.." He suddenly realized something. "Wait..Why..Are you..So nice..To Koba?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Tori tilted her head.

 _"_ _Ever since the beach, you've been..There for me..And now you give me back my old kitten, why?"_ Koba asked through sign.

Tori shrugged. "I don't know..I guess since my father, and so many others before him, showed you the worst of humans and taught you how to hate..I wanted to show you the good side of the humans and..Be your friend."

Koba had known only a few good humans in his life, Mary and Amol. But neither were like Tori. He remembered how when he met her, he wanted to kill her because she was the daughter of Jacobs and she reminded him of her father. But now, when he looked in her eyes, he didn't see Jacobs. All he saw was Tori.

The corners of his mouth curled into a smile. He extended his hand to her. "Trust..You."

Tori took his hand in hers without hesitation. "Trust you too." She said.

Suddenly, the Christmas tree lights went out. Casting everyone into darkness. The apes and the humans all gasped, hooting and looking around with mild startlation and confusion. Then, a loud voice erupted through the crowd.

"Are you ready for the real party to start?!" Came Foster's voice.

Tori and Koba looked at each other. What was happening here?

They got their answer when they suddenly heard a loud but familiar sound.

 ** _Bang!_**

Koba jumped. Was that a gun?! He looked around, eyes scanning his surroundings. He felt Tori nudge him and say his name. Was it just him or was there green light suddenly?

"It's alright, look!" Tori said as she pointed at the sky as another bang was heard.

Koba looked up and gasped. It wasn't gunfire at all! The sky was lit up with lights of it's own! It was as if the stars were exploding, becoming colorful, dandelion bursts of light. There were several of them, of all different shapes and colors. It was amazing!

"I didn't know we had fireworks!" Exclaimed Dreyfus when he looked up.

"Wow!" Derek couldn't believe what he was looking at.

"Gives it a nice touch, doesn't it?" Called Kempt as he and Foster high five each other. They were the ones that planned it. As soon as the power for the Christmas lights went out, they'd put the sky ablaze. It was actually Malcolm's idea, but they made it possible.

Caesar was with Blue Eyes as they watched the fireworks. The prince's eyes were huge as he watched every colorful light beam in the night sky. He hoped his mother and everyone in the infirmary were seeing this, because this was too beautiful to miss. Caesar allowed a smile to grow on his face. Knowing this unity party was one of the best parties his apes had ever celebrated.

The apes were all entranced by the beautiful, bright lights. Some hooted excitedly but most just stayed silent. In awe of the fireworks beauty. The humans cheered happily, possibly at forgetting that such a thing existed and being amazed at rediscovering the sky lights.

Koba glanced at Tori and their eyes met. They were frozen again, looking deep into each others eyes. Tori's pink hair was brightened by the different fireworks colors. None of them seemed as bright as her brown eyes, which were shining. Her eyes were dark, but the color around her pupils was almost autumn colored.

His own green and milky eyes seemed different to Tori. Koba's only green eye, when she looked deep enough, seemed to have all different shades of green and even though his blind eye was empty, something about it reminded Tori of the frosty bubbles that the ocean gave when it made waves. It was like looking a tiny forest and a tiny, but closed up image of the ocean that only lived in his eyes.

Neither of them said a word. No one was looking at them, and no one would glance their way. They knew they could do it without anyone knowing it.

They slowly leaned in closer to each other. Tori wasn't expecting to see Koba's tongue slowly slide out from behind his lips, but she did the same.

Their tongues touched. In her childhood, Tori had thought tongue kissing was gross but his tongue felt warm against her own and when they pressed gently against each other, they felt squishy and soft. Like a sponge that had been drenched in warm water.

Then, their lips connected. Her's were tender and soft against his own rough lips. It was forbidden, but there were no laws against it. It was wrong, but only to those who still felt humans and apes should fight each other.

Koba knew that if Pope or any of the other apes from Gen-Sys found out that he had kissed the daughter of Steven Jacobs, they'd never let him hear the end of it. And Tori knew that her father would never have approved of her kissing one of his experiments like this, but how can a dead man possibly stop her from following her heart?

It felt so right. That was all they could think. They were friends, but friends don't kiss each other like this…Do they?..

When they pulled away, they both blushed and shied away from each other's gaze. Koba held his stuffed kitten to his neck again, smiling sheepishly at the ground while Tori hid half of her face in the bear skin, the same smile on her own red face.

No words were spoken, but they both knew their kiss would be their secret.

Suddenly, a much louder bang was heard. Grabbing their attention. In the sky, to the amazement of all who witnessed it, was the ape colony's home symbol. The large circle and the half circles inside of it were shaped by white fireworks that exploded together..Deliberately made to make that shape.

The apes all looked at the humans, shock and amazement written on their faces. Most of the humans were just as surprised as they were, but smiled at them anyways.

Then, one by one, the apes put their hands up. Each of their hands were balled up into fists and were pressed together. Similar to how one would ride a bike, but with the hands touching each other.

Soon enough, the entire ape colony was doing it. Even Blue Eyes and Caesar were. None of the humans needed to ask to know what this meant and the human colony followed the gesture.

Dreyfus, Derek, Malcolm, Blue Eyes and Caesar looked at all of them. Then glanced at all the members of their group. Maurice and Stone smiled up at them from the crowd. Rocket was there too, having finally recovered enough to get out of his casts. Luca was on top of one of the buildings where Kempt and Foster were but they were all gazing down at them. Ellie was watching from behind one of the windows in the infirmary building. Blue Eyes spotted Koba and Tori from further away, both of them looking up at him and his father.

They knew without saying it out loud. The human colony and ape colony were finally at peace with each other. There would be no more fighting, no more humans hurting apes or apes hurting humans. They will fight this evil together, and they will win.

They were together. They were united. They were one.

* * *

 **A's/N:...Holy...Mother...Of freaking nutcrackers! I don't even want to know how many hours I spent on that chapter, all I know right now is if this story were a TV series, this would be the end of season one, and the beginning of season two! XD**

 **Now that Dolly is finally awake and out of the AO base, I can finally develop her character! (Yeah, most of my OC's are still a work-in progress-I wanted their character personalities to change in the story the same way as Caesar, Koba, Dreyfus and other canon characters do cause then there's more to the story!) If anyone has seen the TV series Once Upon A Time, you probably know how the show jumps from present to the past a lot, and that's kind of the feel I want for Dolly.**

 **So yay! New OC! Hopely-Son of Preacher and Hazell (I was planning on making the humans and apes able to mate and have children together early on in the story but wasn't sure how to introduce that possibility until now and megascopstrichopsis gave me the motivation to make it work ;D) The other new OC (the chimp with the wire in his head) is meant to be a parody of Batty from Ferngully (and a parody of Koba and Pope!) and was created for the sole purpose of having some comic relief in the story-seriously, this story needs it! (more about him will be revealed later, but you can expect some funny moments with him!)**

 **And Milo is back! I think I'm gonna have fun with him around! XD**

 **Now about that scene with Koba and Tori...Four words...Beauty and The Beast...! XD**

 **Thanks for reading and please review! And Happy Holidays to all who are reading this! :D**


	12. Igniting Lake

**A's/N: I AM BACK FROM THE DEAD! :D Sorry about the long wait for an update guys, I literally got sick the day after Christmas and then had writer's block when I recovered and then my classes for the semester started again (which is also why I never answered the reviews from the last two chapters-sorry about that too!) so the last couple of weeks were a mess. DX But no worries, I'm back and I promise to update this story (and answer future reviews!) whenever I can.**

 **You may notice that this chapter is a little sticky (or maybe that's just me cause I just finished writing it today). This is because I'm trying to get back into it and fricken write the stuff. XD Does anyone ever get that? You know what you're going to write but for some reason, you've forgotten how to make words? X3 I had that today and for weeks.**

 **Anyways, holy cow you guys! forty-four reviews! :D Ok, I'm gonna take a moment here and thank you all for these reviews! Like literally, you guys are the blood of this story! Without your reviews, I won't have the motivation to write this story and you guys make me excited about it. 3 Again, thank you all so much!**

 **Alrighty! Now, who's ready for story time?!** **There is some cursing in this chapter, but nothing crazy!**

* * *

There's something magical about the early morning hours. The way the trees stand still, and how cold the air can be. How fog lightly blemishes the surroundings like a gentle cloud and the only noise being the birds as they wake from their slumber. It's a peacefulness that many sleep through, but isn't hard to miss as it repeats itself every day. Today, it was Grey and the many apes and humans on patrol who had the pleasure of witnessing this peace. On happier circumstances, they would have enjoyed it more.

The remnants of street felt rough and cold against his feet as he trudged forward. With each step, he felt himself get further away from Cedar but he knew he had to do this. Actually, it was the deaths of Hazell and her daughter that motivated him to join the patrol, against Cedar's wishes.

 _Flashback:_

 _Hazell was buried in the meadow. It was the most peaceful place the ape colony knew of, hidden deep within the Muir Woods. The meadow was small, but it's beauty was undeniable: Large, healthy trees with moss decorating their trunks, a wide open field of green grass, and dandelion flowers everywhere. Caesar had deliberately kept the meadow a 'no hunting zone' so that it's calming atmosphere would not be tainted with death. He wanted it to be saved for a special occasion, and Hazell's funeral deserved a special location._

 _Cooper, a teenage gorilla who was still currently the only child from the base who was willing (or able enough) to help the team, explained that Hazell and her colony had been taken by the colonel shortly after his own was. He had never known Hazell personally, but he knew from Tanoddah that she wanted nothing but peace between humans and apes._

 _In a way, her wish had come true….But it took her death, and the murder of her child, for it to happen._

 _Hazell's body was wrapped in a white blanket with blue flowers sown in the fabric. It was clean, untouched by time. Her bullet wound was cleaned and covered by what little makeup they could find. Her daughter-who had been named 'Harmony' in honor of the two colonies uniting and what her parents stood for-was wrapped in her own baby blanket and placed in Hazell's arms._

 _They looked as though they were sleeping. As if what the others were looking at were a mother and her child settling down for a nap._

 _It wasn't just the ape colony that came to mourn her. The entire human colony did as well. The only ones who weren't there were those who were still in the infirmary, and the ones who were watching over them. It was a short ceremony, no speeches or much talking at all. No words could possibly describe the sadness that came with the loss of two innocent lives._

 _Grey had spent the entire funeral thinking about the two deaths and about himself and Cedar. Hazell's death was said to have been by the hands of the very human who loved her-Preacher. But he had been forced to do it by the man who murdered their daughter. It never should have happened. If Hazell had just escaped the base with the children, she would have given birth in the city where she would have been protected. If not by the humans, then by the apes. Even if her twins weren't completely ape, Caesar would have made sure they were granted absolute protection as well._

 _What truly got under Grey's skin, however, was that the Alpha-Omega were evil enough to kill a newborn baby and with Cedar's pregnancy progressing, Grey couldn't help but suddenly feel like he needed to do something more than just stay with her._

 _It was later, after the funeral, when he had told her what he intended to do._

 _"_ _You want to join the patrol? Are you out of your mind?!" Needless to say, Cedar did not take it well. Her signs reflected that._

 _"_ _Maybe I am." Grey had expected this, but he found it hard to sign and look at her angry and scared face at the same time. "But I need to do it."_

 _"_ _No! You don't!" Cedar signed back in anger. "Grey, I need you here! The patrol could be the first ones to be attacked! You could die out there!-"_

 _"_ _They killed a newborn and her mother, Cedar!" His own anger was finally showing it's ugly face. "What if that were you? What if they killed_ ** _our_** _baby?"_

 _That stopped Cedar in her tracks. Her hands, once shaking with her words, now wrapped around her growing bump of a belly protectively._

 _Grey knew he had finally got her listening. More calmly, he continued. "I want to live too, Cedar. Every night, I dream of what our life could be when this is all over and the day our child is born and watching them grow." Grey wished that they were already living that life. That what was actually happening was just a terrible nightmare. "These humans are threatening our family. Our future. Caesar and the council may be working with the good humans to stop them, but I can't just stand by and do nothing."_

 _Cedar sniffed and looked down. She sighed as her tears ran down her face. Grey moved in closer to her, pulling her into a gentle embrace._

 _"_ _Please…" He whispered to her. "…Let me protect you…"_

 _End of Flashback:_

Cedar had made him promise he'd come right back to her the second he was done with patrol every day. He also promised her that he'd never leave for patrol without telling her he loved her first.

As he kept on walking, Grey kept his unborn child in his mind. Who would they look like? Him? Or like Cedar? Maybe both? And now that the two colonies are united, what world would his son or daughter grow up in? He smiled, knowing that his baby's childhood would not be like his own. That his child's life, and the lives of all the future children, will be happier and filled with more promise than he and the other apes couldn't imagine possible. That their world will be more peaceful than the one he and Caesar and the other apes lived in.

 _Even if I don't live to meet my child_ He thought. _I'll rest easy knowing I fought this evil to protect them._

* * *

Although Dot shrunk back into the corner when she first saw Rex and Bon, she wasn't afraid of them for long. Once she knew they were Pope's friends, she came out of her hiding place but was still too unsure to come any closer. None of the three apes forced her to, they decided it would be best to let her come to them when she was ready. Even though Dot was deathly afraid of the humans, she seemed calmer around other apes-as long as Pope was with her when they were around.

 _"_ _So, she was a slave?"_ Asked Rex as he turned from Dot to Pope.

Pope only nodded in reply. He kept glancing over at Dot to make sure she was ok. So far, the female chimp had done nothing else other than stare out the window. He wondered if she was truly gazing out at the city, or if she was actually lost somewhere in her mind. _"I don't know how long she was in there, but they did terrible things to her."_

 _"_ _How bad? Like what you went through in the labs?"_

 _"_ _Worse."_ Much worse. Pope found it impossible to picture Dot before she ever met the cruel, dark side of the humans. He wondered if she had ever known pain by their hands before that.

Bon, who was staring at Dot the longest, finally looked at Pope. _"So you took her so she'd be your mate?"_

"No-!" Pope wheezed at the startling question. He quickly glanced at Dot and was relieved to find that she still had her eyes glued to the window. _"Why would you think that?"_ He asked as soon as he was looking at Bon.

 _"_ _Well, you did save her and…"_ Bon grew nervous as Pope frowned at him. _"Well, just look at her! Minus the sad face and the scars on her back, she's a real cutie!"_

 _Cutie_? Despite his annoyance, Pope did as Bon suggested and looked at Dot. Without any dirt or mud, her fur was as golden brown as an elk fawn's pelt and her short hair, which went down to her shoulders, was full of wavy curls. One of which claimed it's spot on her forehead and dangled just over her eyebrows. The small birthmark she was named after was located directly on her cheek, just inches from her eye. Her silvery eyes had this far away gaze to them. Almost as if she were daydreaming.

As much as Pope didn't want to admit it, Bon was right. If Dot's eyes weren't red from her eternal pain, if her face wasn't raw from years of crying, and if she smiled more, Pope could easily see her being one of the females that males would fight over. The kind who could make other females jealous without trying to. _The kind who'd have better suitors than me._

Shaking the thought from his head, he looked back at Bon and Rex. _"That's not why I brought her out with me!"_

 _"_ _Then_ ** _why_** _did you save her?"_ Great, now Rex has joined in.

 _"_ _Because she reminds me of me!"_ Pope signed without thinking. It was true that back in the base, Pope saw himself in the female. He saw the same, scared and vulnerable victim he once was in her eyes. She needed someone to protect her just as much as Pope had.

Bon and Rex took the hint and fell silent, knowing this was much more than whatever they were thinking it was. _"…She looks like your type though."_ Bon signed boldly. _"Neither of you like humans because you were both hurt by them and they disfigured you."_

Pope growled at the other chimp. Bon was lucky he was the scarred chimp's friend and Dot was in the room. If not, Pope would have beaten him to a pulp. But it wasn't that he was offended by being described as _disfigured._ Pope had known and accepted his _disfigurement_ years ago. It was Bon calling Dot _disfigured_ that rubbed his fur the wrong way. She was damaged, but disfigured was too strong of a word to describe her. Even with the scars on her back, Dot could probably attract a mate much easier than Pope himself could.

 _"_ _Enough of this. Why did you two come here anyway?"_ Pope asked, changing the subject.

The other chimp and the gorilla exchanged a glance before answering. _"To ask what the plan is. What are we going to do about Caesar?"_

At the mention of Caesar, Pope rolled his eyes in disgust. As much as he disliked Caesar's rule, it had become the last thing on the scarred chimp's mind. He still thought the Ape King was unfit to lead and he still didn't like his sympathy towards the humans, but it was clear to Pope that Caesar wasn't the enemy. That following him would be better than facing McCullough and the Alpha-Omegas alone.

 _"_ _Nothing, that's what."_ Pope ignored the shock on his two followers faces. _"I was there. I saw what these humans are capable of doing. Their leader, the colonel, is a madman. Look at what they did to Dot, at what they did to Caesar, Dolly, and Ash, and what they did to Hazell and her daughter. If we're going to stop them, we need Caesar and all the help we can get."_ For good measure, he added. _"Even if it comes from humans."_

Rex frowned and Bon made a noise deep in his throat. But neither dared to disagree with the scarred chimpanzee. Pope stood his ground. He doubted the two of them would listen to him, but he wouldn't blame them if they didn't. Pope could hardly believe what he was saying himself.

"…Fine…" Bon said coldly. Rex answered with only a nod.

Pope gave a single nod of his own. They claimed to understand, but Pope had no way of knowing if they were being sincere or not.

Dot, oblivious to their talking, reached out and touched the glass of the window. The sight of the city was completely new to her. In the past, she had only seen the sky and the humans as they gazed down at her. The few buildings, if any, she saw were far away and she'd only see the tops of them. But the window offered a much wider view of the world. The buildings were old and covered in green, but they stood tall and mighty. They made her feel small and hidden away.

 _So this is where you came from, is it Pope?_ She wondered. Dot wasn't ready to trust the humans just yet, but she was impressed with the home that they had built. Even if the city wasn't the same as it was in it's better days, it still looked strong to her.

Could she really trust the humans here? The apes seemed to trust them enough and, as far as Dot could tell, none of them were being hurt or tormented by the humans.

Her hand found it's way to her scar, the one directly over her heart. It was her son who gave her that scar, now it was the only thing left of her family she had. Every time she touched it, she thought of them.

… _Remy…Thyme…_ The faces of her son and mate came to mind naturally, just as they had for years. _I may have Pope to protect me, but I'll always remember you…_

* * *

Carlos was a mess. He saw McCullough every time a human came near him and if he saw any other apes, he'd see the faces of all the dead apes that he had seen get killed in the base. The only time he was ever calm was when Koba and Dolly were by his side, and even then he'd be shaking from whatever hallucination he was having. Ellie suspected the old bonobo was suffering from drug and alcohol withdrawal, but his behavior was so erratic that even she was beginning to wonder if there was something else wrong with him.

The infirmary room was dark, lit only by what little light came from the window. The candle next to the bed, which had served as a night light for Carlos, had long since gone out. Dolly was fast asleep, but Koba woke up when he heard Carlos mumbling.

The older bonobo wasn't in his bed at all. He stood at the window, peering out at the cloudy morning. Koba couldn't tell if he was hallucinating or not, but he seemed calm which was usually a good thing.

"You. Alright?" He asked in a whisper. He wasn't ready to call him 'father' just yet. Maybe Dolly was willing to embrace Carlos as their father with open arms, but Koba still had trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that his father was this boney, paranoid male who can't stop picking at his own skin.

Carlos was silent for only a second before turning around to face him. _"Where is your mother?"_ He asked, knocking Koba off guard. _"Why isn't she here?"_

Koba wondered if he should have seen that coming. He got out of the bed and walked over to Carlos. _"She died years ago. When Dolly and I were children."_

"How?" The voice sent chills up and down Koba's spine. When he looked up, he saw the anger in the older male's eyes. No, it was more than anger…It was _Rage_. It burned in his eyes like a forest fire. The aw sores on his face were wrinkled as he frowned.

 _Oh no..!_ Koba knew this kind of rage. It was the very rage he had come to know as a demon. The one that haunted him, and possibly, Pope as well. _..He could be vengeful too..!_

 _"_ _Rodger...Our caretaker killed her..I don't know what happened to him after that."_ Before Carlos could sign anything, Koba immediately added. _"It doesn't matter anymore. You're with us now."_

 _"_ _Yes, it does!"_ Carlos was bitting at his lip as he signed. It didn't take long for blood to spot at the already damaged skin. _"Humans took me away from her! I never got to say goodbye or anything to her! I didn't even get to meet you and your sister until now-!"_ He suddenly paused, thinking.

Koba waited for whatever he would do next. He didn't expect Carlos to suddenly run a finger down the scar on his face. The touch was cold, but Koba found himself unable to pull away. It was as if the soft touch of his father's finger had paralyzed him. He kept his gaze locked on the two green eyes that were so much like his own. Watching the emotions in Carlos' gaze.

"…What..Have they…Done to you?…" A question he didn't need to ask. He knew full well that this was a wound inflicted by humans. Even though the scar was years old, anger boiled in him that someone had hurt his son in such a manner.

Uh oh. Before Koba could answer him, Carlos threw another question at him. "… _Who._..Did this?!.."

 _"_ _It happened years ago."_ Koba signed before the older bonobo could get any louder. _"The human who did it is dead. He can't hurt me or Dolly anymore."_ Or Milo, he mentally added.

 _"_ _He wasn't the only one! A different one killed your mother! Many others have hurt you and your sister!"_ His eyes became watery at the thought of what kind of horrors his children has had to endure throughout the years. _"Look a what they did to you! To your sister! To your eye! How do you know these other humans won't do the same thing?!"_

 _"_ _They won't!"_ Koba felt like he was arguing with himself all over again. _Please don't bring back to that dark place!_ His mind begged. Koba could only look at Carlos with pleading eyes. _"I promise you, they're different than the ones that hurt us! They're good humans!"_

Carlos huffed at him. He glanced at the still sleeping Dolly. Due to Carlos's erratic behavior, he was given his own room with only Koba and Dolly with him. Why did she have to look so much like Tina when she was sleeping? Sighing, he looked back to Koba.

 _"_ _Do you trust these humans?"_ He asked.

 _"_ _They saved my life, of course, I trust them."_ Koba didn't hesitate at all when he signed those words. He only hoped his father wouldn't press him for details.

But just as he feared, Carlos frowned at his words.

The older bonobo took both of Koba's arms and searched them over. Whatever it was he was looking for, he didn't find it. His brows furrowed at them. Koba looked at him with an eyebrow raised. What was he doing?

Carlos looked back at his face, then frowned again. He then reached over and gently lifted Koba's chin. Exposing his neck. Revealing the red mark, which was slowly healing into a bruise.

"...You...Hurt yourself?" Carlos asked as he let go of him. There was a look in his face that Koba didn't expect. A look of pure sadness and worry for him.

Koba couldn't bear to look at him and turned his head away. Should he really tell his father, who he's just reunited with and met for the very first time, that he almost killed himself recently? He didn't want to, but he also didn't want their relationship to be built on a lie.

He winced when he felt Carlos touch his face and force him to look at him again.

"…It's alright…" The soft tone took Koba by surprise. "…Not all…Of my scars…Are from needles…"

The scarred bonobo blinked at him, confused by his words. He glanced at his father's arms. It was hard to tell because of the pale skin, but Koba could make out the distinct marks made by a sharp blade. It suddenly clicked in his mind.

…His father…Had attempted suicide too…

Koba looked back at his father, eyes widened in shock. "Wh-When..?"

Carlos chose to answer in sign. _"I've lived my entire life under the control of humans, never knowing anything else. I was a slave before I was a servant. By then, I.."_ He paused to compose himself before continuing. _"…I had no reason to live…My only love was gone, I had no family and I was nothing more than a stepping stone in a human's world…That's when I tried to kill myself, but...But he kept stopping me every time…He didn't want his 'favorite servant' to die.."_

It felt like a weight was in his chest. Koba blinked and felt tears roll down his eyes. He let them stain his face, unsure if he was weeping for his father's past suicide attempts or if it was for the fact that both of them had tried to take their own lives.

"…But now…That I have…You and Dolly…" Carlos cupped Koba's face in his hands. "I..Want to…Live again…Be…Your…Father…"

The two bonobos pulled each other into a hug, Carlos squeezing his son tightly while Koba held on to him with gentle arms. He felt like a little child again, finally being with someone who wasn't his mother but was the next best thing. For a brief moment, the pain of the past seemed like a distant memory: a nightmare that Koba had finally awaken from.

"…Want to…Live again too…" He whispered and he meant it.

* * *

The base had never seemed so full. The soldiers were lined around the walls while the apes were in the middle. All the slaves were chained to one another while the gorillas-or Donkeys, weren't but were guarded by some of the soldiers. The colonel had ordered all the soldiers and all the apes to this meeting and though the reason was not spoken, everyone seemed to know that it had something to do with that gruesome scene that unfolded just the previous day.

Red and Winter had been practicing with guns again when it happened. Red wished he had shot McCullough but he was so mortified at what he saw that he forgot he had the firearm in his hands. Winter's fear of the soldiers had intensified after that, to the point where he was too afraid to eat any food he was given. Only ever eating when Red begged him to.

When they were being gathered for this assembly, Red held Winter's hand and did not let go ever since. Even now, as they stood in the heavy silence, his hand was wrapped firmly around the younger gorilla's. Though Red wondered if he was protecting Winter to spare him from the horrors of the base, or if he was simply doing so for the sake of not being alone in this madhouse. Either way, he wasn't going to let the white-furred gorilla out of his sight.

The colonel finally appeared on the balcony, followed by four other humans. One of them was Will. Red couldn't see Preacher anywhere, he wondered why.

"Yesterday, we were betrayed!" McCullough announced. "An abomination had been born! An abomination born to human and ape!"

This wasn't an apology for what he had done…This was something else…Something that made Red feel as if spiders were crawling under his skin. At the corner of his eye, he saw Lake chained up next to Andy and Lucky. He could barely recognize her, her hands were crusty with dried blood and dirt and her back had healing lash marks running down her spine. Her eyes were so much different now.

The look in the teenage female chimp's eyes was of pure anger and deep hatred. A look Red never thought he'd ever see in her.

"Human-ape hybrids are a symbol of surrender! Of abandoning the human race!" McCullough's voice boomed from where he stood. It seemed to come from everywhere. "Any human who forms an alliance with an ape, abandon's the fight for humanity! They **ALL** must die!"

There was a roar from the gathered soldiers. Winter squeezed Red's hand as the albino shrunk into the slightly older ape's shoulder. Red kept a straight face but couldn't hold back a frown. Humans who alley themselves with apes must die? The human city appeared in Red's mind, and so did Malcolm and the other humans. Was McCullough really going to kill them? Just because they had worked alongside Caesar to fix the dam?

Lake, meanwhile, watched on. Clenching her hands into fists as the colonel put his hand up to silence them.

"We all know the plan." His voice was different. Steady, but colder. "It's just a matter of when we act. When I get the signal, we will make the move and capture the entire ape colony and the human colony of San Fransisco. We kill their leaders and their leader's families-"

An ache burned Lake's ears at those words. Her chest felt fluttery, and she knew her heart was pounding. The beautiful eyes of Blue Eyes appeared before her own. Blue Eyes. What will become of him if he were to be brought here?

"-and then we will rise!" Another roar followed McCullough's voice. Lake didn't even hear most of what he was saying. She took slow breaths to calm herself but to no avail. With each hating word the colonel spoke, deep down in her heart a spark ignited and grew into a flame that just kept on growing…

…Until!

The scream that erupted from Lake's throat was out of her control. Her body moved without her telling it to. She felt the rusted chains on her wrists and ankles cracking and breaking as she bolted. The flame in her heart had become a forest fire and Lake lost the will to hold back her fury. She heard gunshots, but the bullets missed her. She lunged at one soldier than the next, breaking their bones and wounding them in the process. Lake didn't care if these soldiers weren't the colonel, she just wanted to hurt as many of them as she could.

She was only stopped when a gorilla, bearing the word DONKEY tattooed on his back, grabbed her and held her down with the help of another gorilla bearing the same marking. But what woke her from her rage was the sharp and sudden pain that came with the smack of a whip. Then another, and another, and another until she could no longer count them.

Andy and Lucky could only stand there and watch helplessly. There was nothing they could do for the female but as scared for her as they were, Lake's rampage astonished both of them. Somehow, her anger was strong enough that she had broken out of the chains and managed to kill one soldier and mortally wound the other two.

Winter flinched every time he heard the whip crack and snap. His fingers digging into Red's skin, hoping he wouldn't have to feel the sting of the long, snake-like weapon. Red's own mind was blank as he watched the scene.

The lashing halted when McCullough appeared. When no one was looking, he had sneaked down from the balcony of his fortress and now stood before the crowd. He waved the donkeys away as he approached the now bleeding female. He squared down in front of her and forced her chin up to look at him. His eyes hidden behind his blue gassed shades, though they couldn't protect him from Lake's own hate-filled glare.

Lake could feel her blood running down her back. She wondered if the sharp whip had exposed her muscles and bones as it tore her flesh away. She didn't care if it had. She let the sharp pain fuel her anger.

McCullough removed his sunglasses. His eyes were blue-but not at all like the ones Blue Eyes was named after. The colonel's eyes were empty as if there were nothing inside of him and Lake found herself shrinking at the look they held.

"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" His voice sent shivers up and down her body. He held her jaw tightly, possibly sensing her desire to sink her teeth into his face. His gaze dug deep into her's, and Lake felt as he could see her insides. "What is your name?"

Lake growled at him. She started to lunged at the human but he shoved her back with enough force to land her on her back. The snow beneath her stabbed painfully in her fresh wounds.

"Send her to the breaking room!" McCullough demanded as he stood up. "It's apes like her that need to be destroyed! We need to inspire fear in them! Fear is what gives us power!"

Will, who had been standing still for the longest time, gulped nervously. There were no more children in the base, but the colonel could still send her back to the city so she could kill anyone she loved there just as he had done to Caesar and the other two apes. If that's what would happen to her, Will hoped that the humans in the city would know what to do.

There was a brief silence as two soldiers started to drag Lake away when a new voice spoke.

"I don't fear you."

All eyes turned to the source of the voice. Lake looked back into the crowd of many apes and, to her surprise, saw Red. Despite the eyes of the entire base staring at him, and Winter clinging tightly to his arm with a pleading look on his face, the red furred gorilla stood tall and showed no emotion on his face.

Lake could feel her heart pounding in her chest again. She knew both of these gorillas, but not as well as she knew Blue Eyes and Ash. Winter was the same age as them-though younger by a few days. She remembered Winter as the one who all the other gorillas bullied and picked on because of his white fur. Lake always felt bad for him, but at the time she didn't know how to stop Dexter (who everyone nicknamed 'Dex') from his antics. Red was slightly older than them. If Lake remembered correctly, he was a year old when Caesar freed him and his mother from the humans. Like Winter, Red had been teased by the other gorillas because of his fur but not as severely as the albino was. It seemed like Red was naturally more of an introvert than Winter was. Though Lake had glimpsed Winter with his father almost every day, she hadn't seen much of Red ever since his mother passed away.

"You must fear." Red's green gaze was directed at McCullough. The colonel stood just as still as the red and black furred silverback. "Caesar, apes, and humans in city won't tolerate murder of newborn. How long you think it take for them to find you? To stop you? They destroy you!"

Two soldiers grabbed the gorilla tore him away from Winter, who was crying out for him. The soldiers brought Red over to where the colonel stood and threw him where Lake had previously laid. The whip was ready, raised high in the air until-

"Sir!" It was Will this time, yelling the single word as loudly as he could.

McCullough turned and glared at him. "What do you want, Roscoe?" The annoyance was evident in his voice as he waited for his soldier to explain why he had interrupted a punishment.

Ten years of working under it and Will still hated the false name he had created for himself just as much as he hated it the day he invented it. He didn't want these people to know who he was, so he had joined them under the name 'Charlie Roscoe'. While he was mostly called Roscoe by the soldiers, Charlie was the name he had chosen in memory of his father and to remind Will why he joined the Alpha-Omega and what he was fighting for.

What was he going to say? Will realized with a panic that he hadn't thought this through. He had spoken out without a plan. "Sir, we need more security due to the recent escapes." By now, everyone in the base knew of the slaves and servants disappearing. "What if, instead of breaking these two apes, we just use them to replace the missing servants?" It was a stretch, but it was worth trying.

McCullough's gaze was deep within Will's eyes. Him being small in comparison to the other soldiers had helped Will hide in plain sight and make him seem, outwardly, not likely to cause the colonel any trouble but that mask could break at any given moment and Will always feared the moment he would be found out.

Finally, he spoke. "What makes you think they'd be worthy servants, Roscoe?"

"Hazell was one of your favorite servants, wasn't she? Maybe that female chimp could replace her." Will tried not to stumble on his words. He moved on to the gorilla. "And this-this gorilla is a strong one! I mean, I know he's on the short end, but just look at him! He can make an impressive bodyguard!"

 _Bodyguard?_ Red would rather tear this human apart himself than protect his body from others who'd want to do the same but he knew better than to say that out loud.

"Besides if we send any more apes, drugged up or not, back to the city, wouldn't that just deter us from falling through with the plans?" If the last two reasons weren't enough, Will hoped this one would be the kicker. He didn't know what he'd do if it didn't work.

The colonel glanced at Red, then at Lake. Eyeing each of them. He considered his options. The female was different than Hazell, and much younger too, but she was just as pretty. The gorilla meanwhile, really was a sight himself. He could seriously hurt someone with his muscles. Plus, the extra security seemed like a good idea. He looked back at Will.

"You're smarter than you look, Roscoe." He said.

 _You have no idea._ "Thank you, Sir." Will mumbled.

McCullough turned his attention back to the soldiers and the two apes. He motioned for the first two to bring Lake back and let Red stand up. "In light of Roscoe's advise, I have decided to make these two my newest servants!" He announced.

Lake swallowed. She glanced over at Andy and Lucky, who were watching with wide eyes. Even with Red standing next to her, she felt unsafe. _What's going to happen to me?_

"Won't serve you." Red suddenly stated. "Unless he servant too." He indicated with a nod at Winter, who was easy to spot because of his white fur.

McCullough narrowed his eyes at the albino. He ordered the soldiers to bring him closer. His frown only deepened when he got a better look at him. "He doesn't look much like a fighter." Winter was too scared to look the human in the eye.

"That his strength." Red was thinking on his feet. If Will was going to help him and Lake, he wanted to make sure that Winter would be safe too and he knew the only way the albino would ever be safe in this place is if he were with him. "He braver than he look. He stronger than you think. He take down bear." A lie, and a big one. The only apes Red had ever seen kill a grizzly were Koba and Pope, and Winter wouldn't go near a bear even if all that was left of it were its pelt. But it was the only way to convince the colonel to make the albino his servant.

 _Red, what are you doing?!_ Winter could feel his anxiety growing into panic. _What if I have to prove I'm that brave?! They'll kill me for sure!_

Lake glanced from Red to Winter. She didn't know what Red's plan was but understood that he was protecting Winter. Standing up for someone else…That's something she had never seen him do before.

McCullough tilted his head at Winter. He looked like a big, white blob with feet and a face to him. Like one of those toys, he used to see in the toy section of the market-a furby. He didn't look intimidating, unlike the other gorilla, but his white fur _would_ make him blend into the snow and that could work in surprise attacks. Besides, if one gorilla is strong, two must be more powerful together.

"Fine." He finally answered. McCullough turned his attention to Lake. "You will serve under me in my quarters, like the others." He then snapped his fingers and Lake was escorted away. He then glanced back at Red and Winter. "And you two will have your own duty."

The two gorillas glanced at each other. What will McCullough do with them?

Lake, meanwhile, kept looking back at the colonel. Her hatred for the human building as her anger slowly returned. _I'm going to kill you._ She swore in her mind. _One way or another, you're not going to get away with killing that baby or all the other horrible things you've done. I'll make sure you'll get exactly what you deserve._ Lake could feel her thoughts feeding her anger. She could feel it with every breath she took.

Whether they knew it or not, McCullough and the soldiers had set off a fire in her, and now they will be burned. Maybe not today, but soon.

* * *

McCullough walked through the door. His lover was always easy to find so when he didn't see her right away, he knew he'd find her in their bedroom. Sure enough, there she was. He removed his hat and hung it up along with his uniform. He glanced at her, eyeing her white tank top and baggy gym pants. "That all you're wearing?" He asked.

"I just woke up." She replied. She always looked tired as her hair was always a mess of blonde hair in the morning.

He walked over to her, eyes still casted on her. "I assume you saw that scene the other day?" He nodded at the window. "Of the abomination?"

She sighed and turned her head away. "…I can't believe you would do that…I understand why, but…Isn't it a little…Petty? To kill a baby?"

If this was someone else, he would have had them killed. But she was not someone else. She was his goddess. And his alone. When he decided he wanted a queen, he chose the most beautiful woman in the base. There were others of course, but there was something exotic about her that he found attractive. He sat down next to her and pulled her into a side hug by wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"Now my dear, Elaine," She tried not to flinch at her name. "you know I'd never do that to a normal baby, human or ape." His voice was sickeningly sweet. Like cake frosting that make's one gag after a few bites. "..It's just that hybrids aren't meant to exist."

 _You're disgusting._ She thought silently. Out loud, Elaine said: "How did that happen anyway?…Ten years ago, humans and apes wouldn't have been able to have children together."

He chuckled at her silly question. "Humans had the sense to not have sex with those beasts back then." He shook his head at the thought. "I'd like to know what Preacher was thinking. I told him to watch Hazell, not get her pregnant."

 _It was love._ Elaine only shrugged, letting her thoughts roam freely in her mind. _You choose hate, he chose love._ "How long are you going to keep him in solitary confinement?" She asked. "Don't you need him?"

"What's with you and your questions today?" He asked playfully. Part of the allure to Elaine was her silence: she always seemed to be somewhere else, and McCullough couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about. He never minded at all when she asked questions. "I'll keep him in there until I decide to let him out, of course." He kissed her cheek and stood back up. "Now, get dressed, my lady. You and I are going to walk around the base today." With that, he walked out of the bedroom so she could change privately.

Elaine rubbed the disgusting kiss from her cheek as soon as the door closed behind McCullough. She made her way over to the closet and picked up the first thing she saw.

Long ago, when she was someone else, she uses to count the days she had spent in the base. To her, each day she woke up in the dreadful place, was another day of worry and of sorrow. She lost count at nine-hundred and eighty-seven days and stopped counting from then.

As she slipped on the dark blue coat dress, she glanced at the mirror. She stared at her fluffy, blonde hair, trying to remember when it was long, straight and black. Her life before all this madness was now nothing but a memory that was so distant and so far away, it may as well have been a dream. All she had left as proof that she had lived it was Will, and the many ear-rings in her ears. One for each person she ever loved: a pearl for Charles, a chocolate-chip cookie for Caesar, a tiny, silver hoop for her parents and an angel wing for Will.

Elaine glanced around before going closer to the reflective glass. She took a deep breath as she prepared to say the words that, if spoken out loud, could possibly kill her and all the rebels in the base. These were the words she only spoke to herself when she was alone. When she knew no one would hear her.

Then, in a hushed whisper that was so quiet, that even Elaine herself could barely hear it, she breathed: "…My name is Caroline…"

* * *

Ellie watched as Pat opened Milo's mouth and looked inside. In the last ten years, Ellie had come to know the medical staff of the survivors and had befriended them. Pat had been a dentist in the past but since the virus and riots broke out, he now used his experience to fix and replace teeth.

"Yup." He finally said after a while. "Look at this."

Ellie moved closer so she could see what Pat wanted to show her.

"You see how his back teeth are broken like that?"

"Yes."

"It's hard to tell, but I think his mouth may have been wired shut in the past." He adjusted his glasses. They were the weird kinds that dentists used to wear, with the extra lenses. "I'm going to guess it wasn't removed by a professional. It looks like it was ripped out of his mouth.'

Ellie cringed at the thought. She couldn't believe Milo had been tortured like that. "Do you think you can fix his teeth?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, I can do that." Pat took off his glasses. He was in his mid-fifties, but his brown hair made him seem slightly younger than that for some reason. "I can remove his broken molars and give him a full set of new teeth. They'll look different than an ape's typical set, but I'll try to make them resemble an apes as best as I can."

"Thanks, Pat, that means a lot." There was still so much about Milo that she didn't know and it was very possible that he had more problems than just broken teeth, but Ellie felt like fixing his mouth was a step in the right direction.

The early morning light shone through the window, catching Ellie's eye. Last night, she and Malcolm and the others agreed to regroup at their building at sunrise so that they could get back to find out more about the Alpha-Omegas. With the two colonies united, and the whole 'Koba in jail' drama over, there was hope that the team could finally figure out whatever McCullough was planning.

"I have to go." A thought came to her and she glanced at Pat one last time. "Uh, can you make sure he's still asleep while you fix his teeth? If he really was tortured, I don't want him to be any more afraid of human than he may already be."

Pat chuckled. "I knew you were going to say that. No worries, I gave him some sleeping gas for the procedure. He won't be aware of it until he wakes up."

 _Good, so we're on the same page!_ Pat was just an acquaintance, but a good one. Before Ellie never talked about the apes with the other medical staff and none of them wanted to bring up such a touchy subject but none of them ever had any ill-will to Caesar or his colony and it was relief to see that they were willing to help them if they needed it.

After thanking Pat again, Ellie walked out of the room. Knowing she was leaving Milo in good hands. But she couldn't stop thinking about his scars. Upon closer inspection, Ellie had noticed that Milo had 'DONKEY' tattooed on his back and AO on the side of his right eyebrow. _They made him a donkey? But I thought they only did that to gorillas!_ She wondered if there were other apes, aside from the gorillas, who ended up with that horrible tattoo. Milo had other scars on him: A scar across his left cheek, an on old burn scar on his right one, and both of his ears were ripped up-not enough to cause any damage to his hearing, thankfully, but it still looked painful.

She knew it would be too risky to ask the chimp herself what he had been through. Ellie doubted Milo would be just as untrusting towards humans as Koba was, but she didn't want to assume otherwise when he hadn't even woken up yet. _Maybe he'd be more willing to talk to Koba and Dolly than to a human._

Speaking of Koba, as Ellie walked down the hallway, the door to the room that he and his sister and father now shared opened and the scarred bonobo walked out. Koba rubbed his eye, looking sleepy.

"Morning, Koba." She said softly. It was nice to see him out of that jail cell.

Ellie didn't expect him to, but he answered her.

"Hi, Ellie." Koba's tired voice was loud enough for her to hear. Poor guy sounded like he hadn't had much sleep.

Hearing him say her name made Ellie's heart skip a beat. Did this mean he trusted her?

At that moment, Caesar stumbled his way from a corner and toward them. He looked just as tired as Koba, only there was something different about him. His gaze felt different. Ellie couldn't describe it. Caesar looked much better, having fully recovered from his fever, but there was still something off about him.

But what really got her worried about him was when Caesar glanced at Koba and then looked away. It wasn't like he was shunning the scarred bonobo or avoiding him. It was more like…like it _pained_ him to look at him. As if the very sight of Koba alone was enough to case the Ape King some sort of pain. Ellie gave a side glance at the scarred ape herself and realized Koba hadn't seen the strange glance. Having been too preoccupied with rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes.

* * *

Sleep had been hard on Caesar. All night long, he dreamt of nothing but feeling angry. Most of his dreams would be of him punching at walls and yelling at anyone he saw, but the worst ones were the dreams he had about his enemies. Both current, and former. He dreamt about going into the AO base and shooting any and all humans he saw, of beating up Koba violently enough that he'd crush the all scarred bonobo's bones, of setting fire to Gen-Sys and all the other buildings that had ever harmed an ape. They all blurred together in one, hellish nightmare.

What disturbed Caesar the most about them was that in each one of his dreams, he always felt…content. At peace. Satisfied….Almost happy… And when he woke up, he'd feel disappointment. It was as if some part of him actually _wanted_ to do those things, which worried the Ape King.

That's why he had to look away when he saw Koba again. Because when he saw the scarred bonobo, he felt the need to hear his skeleton crack. Thankfully, Koba didn't notice it.

He still felt that need as he stood in the room that belonged to what Blue Eyes called 'the file room building'. One look around and he could see why it was called that. The room, while big enough to hold the Ape Council and the humans inside, was also full of files. Files that held the backgrounds of every human and ape in San Fransisco. The room itself felt like a chamber of secrets to an extent.

The group, which consisted of Caesar himself, Blue Eyes, Rocket, Luca, Ash (who'd recovered enough to join them), Koba, Maurice, Malcolm, Tori, Ellie, Dreyfus, Derek, Forster, Stone, and Kempt, were looking at the discs and flash-drives that were found days earlier. Derek had a projector which hooked up to the computer they were using and the image on the screen, showed on a screen curtain that hung over the whiteboard in the room.

The flash-drives they looked at so far had nothing but what looked like notes from the human experiments-some contained graphic pictures or videos, which made Derek relieved that the volume on his computer didn't work but he still skipped over the gruesome scenes anyway.

Finally, something other than human experiment notes popped up. Everyone stared at it, trying to put a name to the very odd picture. It looked like a clumsy mix of random boxes and rectangles. It was only when Derek zoomed in did they realize what it was.

"Is that a map?" Asked Kempt.

"If that's not a map, I don't know what it is." Said Foster.

Caesar squinted at the image. Despite having been in the base, he hadn't really seen much of it. He felt almost grateful for that. But his eyes landed right on one part of the map. A spot that he knew all too well.

"Breaking…Room." He rasped. He could feel eyes on him but he didn't have the heart to explain. The only person who knew what he was talking about was Ash, who only crept closer to Rocket. His body shaking.

The only humans who had heard Caesar was Malcolm and Tori, and neither of them dared to ask what the breaking room was.

"How are they able to have so many people in there?" Asked Dreyfus. "It doesn't look big enough to have that many apes and humans and the AO soldiers in it all at the same time."

"Maybe there's another base?" Suggested Ellie.

"Then how could the human children have come from the same base as the ape children?" Asked Malcolm, returning his gaze to the others. "They have to be in there somewhere."

Derek stared at the screen for a second. Then, something caught his eye. "Wait a minute.." He pressed one of the arrow keys on his keyboard and the screen immediately changed to another map. This one was shaped as a big square inside another square. The middle one, however, resembled a kitchen of some sorts while the one around it looked like a giant train track.

It wasn't hard to figure out what it was.

"Labs." There was a slight growl in Koba's voice.

"It's underground." Said Tori, eyeing what looked like stairs or ladders of some kind. " _Beneath_ the base."

"That's weird." Said Kempt. "Why would they separate the humans from the apes?"

"Why are they doing _any_ of this? These people don't make much sense at all, do they?" Added Foster.

Malcolm only stared at the map with mixed feelings. Was that really where those innocent human children had been born and held captive in? It broke his heart to think about it. Even more so when he thought of Alex in there.

Wait..!

"Ellie?" Malcolm suddenly turned to look at his wife. "Did any of the human children have any injuries on them?"

Ellie blinked. "Just the oldest ones, on their throats and inside their mouths."

Why would they experiment there? "What about Alex?" He asked.

"He wouldn't let me examine him so I don't know."

A lump began forming in Malcolm's throat. Why would his son not want Ellie to make sure he wasn't hurt? A new fear began to take hold of him. Just what did his son go through while in that lab?…What did they do to him?

"What the heck?" Dreyfus gasped, making Ellie and Malcolm look up. The screen had suddenly changed and became black. Everyone could only stare at it in confusion.

"Derek, what's happening?" Asked Ellie.

"I don't know, it did that on it's own." Derek looked almost alarmed at the sudden and unexpected change.

The screen suddenly changed again. The screen lid up with a scene-a video! It appeared to have been taken at a downcast view, as if the camera was looking down when it was filming it. No one had to ask, they all had a good idea of what this video was from and where it was filmed at.

But what got their attention the most were the two gorillas.

Red and Winter could clearly be seen with a soldier. Both of them had guns in their hands. The soldier appeared to be trying to teach them how to use them. Red fired first, but before Winter could fire his own, Pinto came running into view. The young gorilla was being chased by a gorilla-one that had to be the meanest, scariest ape the team had ever seen. He made even Koba seem harmless!

Red dropped his gun and got in-between the two. Shoving the crazed gorilla to the side and picking up Pinto but then was chased by the other gorilla until he ran into a fence. The gorilla was about to strike at Red again but was shot by Winter.

But then, the soldiers came and started beating the poor albino…But it only got worse when, to the horror of the group, one of the soldiers…Pulled out a blow torch…And brought the blue flame closer to Winter's back.

Thankfully, at that moment, the screen changed again. This time, the camera footage was taken inside the fence that Red had hit. It started with a soldier yelling at a bunch of apes who were digging up a bolder. The apes recognized Lake among them and even though she was covered in mud, they could almost make out Dot, the female who came back with Pope.

One of the apes lost their grip on the rope and the bolder fell back into the pit. The soldier got mad and began to whip the poor ape but Lake, enraged by this, lunged at him and bit his nose. She was then tased by another soldier, and then the screen changed again.

It was as if Will (or whoever sent them the flash drives) had collected as much camera footage as possible and crammed it all in one space.

The next scene was the strangest…And the eeriest. The room was small, a perfect cube shape. It was empty except for a rag on the floor, what looked like a tire swing hanging from the ceiling and a corner full of long-forgotten children's toys. The room reminded Caesar of his old bedroom back at the Rodman house-only this one had fewer toys and the walls were blank, with no windows. It was a colorless room of dark loneliness and it honestly looked like a cage without bars.

"What the hell?" Muttered Dreyfus.

"What is this?" Malcolm wasn't sure if he wanted an answer. The room was disturbing, regardless of it's purpose.

They thought the room was empty until they realized someone was inside. She was a blur at first, easily mistaken for a shadow. But then, she stood up and walked over to the rag (that must have been her blanket) and wrapped it around herself. What little light there was in the room was just enough to see her fully.

The child was a bonobo, who had to be no older than two years old. Her dark skin was paler than it should be, and her limbs were long and stringy from lack of muscle (or possible malnourished). She moved just like a spider. Her large, brown eyes seemed to take up half of her face.

Derek had just enough time to take a screenshot of her before she covered her tiny frame under the rag. Only her face peeked out as she pulled the thing over her head.

"Why is she in there?" Ellie's voice was tight with concern.

"I thought Will took all the kids out of that base." Said Foster, some anger was hinted in his tone.

"I don't think he knows she's there." Said Tori. "There aren't any windows and I doubt the colonel lets her leave that room."

Maurice, clearly disturbed by the footage, looked at the other apes. _"We have to get that child out of there."_ He signed. _"She could be in danger."_

Caesar was barely aware of the orangutan's signs. He could feel himself boiling on the inside and knew his hatred for the Alpha-Omegas and their leader had just grown a little bit more.

 _"_ _We know, Maurice."_ Blue Eyes answered for him. _"But we need to find her first."_

Rocket held Ash in an embrace. His hard gaze glaring at the screen. He couldn't imagine why anyone, human or ape, would lock a child away in a room so bare like a prisoner but he knew that Maurice was right. Whoever that little girl is, she needs to get out of that room. Out of that base and away from McCullough.

Luca's hands twisted into fists. He could only hope that someone in the base knew of that girl and would help her-or at least, protect her from the soldiers and the colonel.

Outwardly, Koba was still and silent but he was fuming on the inside. What's with humans abusing children?! First Tori, and now this?! And not to mention all the others that came from that base-! Wait. Koba narrowed his eyes at the screen, at the image of the little girl. He blinked at it, suddenly seeing the resemblance.

That girl, whoever she was, looked exactly like his father.

Suddenly, the screen changed again-only this time, the scene was too horrible to watch.

The room in the scene could easily be the execution chamber from death row in jail. Only instead of one restraining bed, there were three with its own machine by its side. In each bed, an ape was restrained.

One was Caesar and the other three were Dolly and Ash.

The humans who were hovering over them were torturing them! Stabbing their bodies with giant syringes and then turning on the biggest machine in the room which would send a bolt of electric shock through electrodes that were connected to their heads. Their bodies shook with the horrible vibrations.

The second the scene popped up, everyone either gasped, yelped or jumped back. Ash ran out of the room, Caesar covered his eyes. Koba ducked. The two chimps didn't want to relive that awful torture and the scarred bonobo didn't want to see how much his twin had truly suffered.

Luckily, Derek immediately yanked the flash drive out of his computer before the scene could fully start. With the screen now permanently blank and lifeless, the group just stared at it in mute shock.

"…M-Maybe we should take a break..?" Dreyfus sounded concern, which was weird coming from him.

"Better make it a long one." Said Foster.

A break sounded like a good idea. It's one thing to look at maps and experiment notes. It's a total different thing to actually watch security footage and see unspeakable acts of cruelty.

Rocket left the room to look for Ash. The young chimp was in the hallway, shaking and whimpering. Poor boy was scared out of his mind. Caesar wasn't as emotional as the teen, but he wrapped his arms around Blue Eyes and held him tightly. The prince didn't even try to escape his father's embrace. He needed this just as much as the Ape King did.

Malcolm and Ellie were embracing each other too. Possibly trying to recover from what they had just seen.

Derek only stared at his computer screen. He had a screenshot of that girl on his desktop, but he had seen too much to look at them and get a better look at the child right now. Still, though, he knew they had to find her and get her out of that room.

Koba stayed where he was. Back against the wall as he absentmindedly scratched at one of his old scars. The anger and the confusion he felt made him feel as if there were something crawling under his skin. He hated it, but could not tell which of those scenes made him feel that way.

He only stopped scratching when he felt hands take his. It was Tori, she had come over to him and was now sitting next to him.

Koba hadn't seen Tori much since their secret kiss during the unity celebration. It was mostly due to Koba spending time with Dolly and helping both his sister and father heal. While Dolly was doing better, their father's hallucinations and jumps from paranoia to anger to depression was emotionally and mentally exhausting. Between all that, Koba barely had much time to think about anything else.

But he didn't forget how that kiss made him feel.

 _"_ _Are you ok?"_ Tori asked. She didn't feel like using her voice.

Neither did Koba. _"I don't know."_ Why did he feel awkward all of the sudden? _"They hurt my sister."_

 _"_ _I know but she's safe now and those humans are going to get their asses kicked for what they did to her."_ That honestly made Koba chuckle. Tori smiled, knowing her 'get back at the idiots talk' worked. _"We'll figure out who that girl is and get her out of there somehow."_ She added. _"I know we will."_

Koba wondered if that was even possible. That girl looked like she never seen the light of day in her life, let alone been allowed to leave that room. If Will and Preacher didn't even know who or where she was than how could the team figure it out on their own?

But then again, someone in that base had to know she was in there. How else could her video have ended up on one of the flash drives?

Suddenly, the front door to the building opened and seconds later, the chimp with the wire sticking out of his head-who the team now knew was called Spazz-walked in the room. He walked the same way he did when they first saw him: unblinking eyes kept forward and nothing reflected on his face. Just like before, he just kept walking. Even when he banged into the wall. Repeatedly.

Werner peaked his head into the doorway, having followed the chimp here. "I thought I told you two to watch him!" Dreyfus angrily spat as Finney appeared.

"Sorry, he got all sparky again and just wandered out here." Said Werner.

Finney watched as Spazz kept banging into the wall. "Shouldn't you guys do something about that wire?" He asked.

"It may be too dangerous to remove it." Said Ellie, also watching Spazz. "If we take it out and it's connected to his brain, it could cause brain damage." Ellie had considered doing the procedure, but with the lack of medical screening, there was no way to tell if it would cause more harm than good and she didn't want to take the risk.

"I think he already has that." Muttered Finney with a slight chuckle. Earning an elbow to his rib from Werner.

Caesar struggled to suppress his annoyance at the human. He and Blue Eyes, Maurice, Koba, Rocket, Ash, Stone, and Luca had officially met Spazz, in his non-sparking, radio-like self, just before the unity celebration. He's actually a nice male, friendly and curious. Spazz, despite his obvious problems, wasn't at all 'brain damaged' as Finney joked. No, Spazz was just…Eccentric. Humorous and delightfully odd, but seemed nice all the same.

Spazz continued to bang into the wall until a spark popped out from his wire and he shook his head. He then blinked several times and glanced around the room before seeing the apes and signing. _"Why do you all look so sad?"_

 _"_ _We're not sad."_ Signed Blue Eyes. _"We're just not happy."_

Spazz tilted his head to the side. His wire sticking upward like a flag. _"Why?"_

 _"_ _Because the humans in the Alpha-Omega base have hurt Ash, Dolly, and my father and are hurting other people and some of our friends are still trapped inside."_ Blue Eyes didn't need to look at Ash to know that he was still hiding in Rocket's embrace. It scared him that the soldiers had reduced his once playful and mischievous honorary cousin and best friend to this.

The wired ape blinked at the prince. He glance at Caesar and Maurice. Stone and Luca were watching Werner and Finney as the two argued with Dreyfus (possibly making sure neither of them did anything). Rocket was preoccupied with Ash to pay any attention. Tori had her arm wrapped around Koba. If they were watching the conversation, they gave no indication.

 _"_ _If your friends are still there, why don't you all just go to the base and get them?"_

The question took Blue Eyes by surprise. _"Because we don't know where the base is."_

 _"_ _Then get a map and then go."_ Spazz wasn't arguing with him, it was more like he was trying to suggest a way to get the others out of the base.

Caesar and Maurice exchanged glances. They wished it was that simple: Just show up at the base and whisk all the imprisoned away back to the city without even a peep from the colonel and go back to normal life-whatever that is now that the colonies are united. But war just doesn't work that way.

 _"_ _Even if we find a map, we can't just go to the base and assume the soldiers aren't armed. There could be a death trap just waiting to go off in there."_ As much as Blue Eyes wished he could charge at those soldiers and make them pay for all the pain they cause, he knew better than to go running into danger without knowing what lay ahead.

 _"_ _Then get guns and then go."_

Blue Eyes allowed the corners of his mouth to lift just a little bit. Apparently, Spazz has a talent for making serious problems sound easy to resolve. _"We'll do that as soon as we know where the base is. Besides, we still don't know why they're doing all this."_

Truthfully, Blue Eyes didn't really want to know what the excuse for this cruelty was. It felt like no good reason McCullough and his soldiers had would be enough to justify this level of evil.

Spazz raised an eyebrow, looking confused. _"Why don't you put the black bug in the box and see what's in it?"_

Blue Eyes blinked. _"The what?"_

 _"_ _The black bug."_ Spazz repeated.

Black bug? Maurice remembered that Koba and Dolly called apes who didn't use sign language 'big black caterpillars' during the first days after they were freed. Was that what Spazz was talking about? But that doesn't make any sense! Caesar squinted at Spazz's signs. What 'black bug' could fit into a…The Ape King glanced at Derek's computer and then at the screen. That video they saw was on a flash drive. Caesar had seen only a few of them in his life but he knew they came in various different colors…

…And the black ones sometimes _looked_ like bugs…!

Just before Caesar could ask him anything, Spazz's wire popped and sparks flew out. " _Who let the dogs out?!_ " He sang, startling everyone in the room. " _Woof! Woof! Woof!_ " There was another pop and he was back to banging into the wall again.

"And that's why I didn't want him to be left in the infirmary alone." Said Dreyfus.

Finney huffed at him. "What happened to you, Dreyfus? You use to be sane."

Dreyfus made a face at the younger man and Finney backed away. Werner got in between them. "Ok, next time we'll be more careful."

"What was he saying?" Asked Malcolm to the apes.

"Something about a black bug." Said Blue Eyes with a shrug.

"I think he meant flash drive." Added Caesar.

Malcolm glanced at Spazz. "Flash drive…?"

There was a pause. Now everyone was staring at Spazz as the wired chimp continued to bang into the wall. They were all thinking the same thing. Spazz hadn't told them much else other than his…Unusual name…But the wire sticking out of his head suggested he had been in a lab or something of the sort in the past. But if he was truly an infant at the time of the Ape Rebellion, than he couldn't have been an experiment for long…Unless…Unless he was _born_ in the base, which would explain why he wouldn't have a file or reports of his disappearance.

But then it dawned on the group….If Spazz had been born in the base, than _why_ and _when_ did he get that wire? In fact, what was the wire's purpose to begin with? Were the Alpha-Omegas trying to make contact with other bases if there were any? Or was it…

"What if he's a spy?" Kempt asked without thinking, breaking the silence.

Finney snorted at him. "No offense, but does he look smart enough to be a spy to you?"

Oh, that did it! Caesar was about to turn around and growl at the human for that comment but Werner was, thankfully, faster than he was. "Hey Finney, why don't we go somewhere else and leave the guys alone?" Before Finney could reply, Werner pulled him out of the room. The door of the building slammed shut a second later.

Dreyfus rolled his eyes at his two followers, ignoring the fact that they left Spazz there.

"Do you guys think he's a spy?" Asked Foster, once the two morons were gone.

"I doubt it." Said Malcolm.

"He doesn't look much like a spy." Dreyfus eyed Spazz head to toe. "He's too goofy, I don't think McCullough would want a loose cannon like him spying on us."

Spazz's wire popped and crackled again, and he stopped. But instead of returning to himself, the chimp fell unconscious on the ground. Blue Eyes had just managed to catch his head from hitting the floor.

"Is he ok?!"

"Holy moly!"

Ellie ran to Spazz and touched his head. She sighed in relief when she didn't feel anything broken or see any bruising. "He probably just had a short-circuit."

"Blue Eyes, Ash. Take him back to the infirmary." Caesar was rubbing his head now. His head felt thick, like bread dough. He wondered if it was from stress or from annoyance at the whole situation.

Ash hesitated but, with an encouraging pat from his father, joined Blue Eyes and together they carried Spazz out of the room.

Derek had stayed silent the entire time. He tried to focus on what was happening, but his mind kept going back to those videos. To what went on in that base. Derek had accepted that there are some who see apes as animals long ago. It was the harsher lesson he learned as a child. But these were things no one would do to any creature. No…These were things no creature _should_ have to go through. Despite all his years of seeing the worst of humanity and placing real monsters in prison, Derek never thought of anyone as pure evil. He once believed that the term was a myth, that there was no such thing as being 'pure evil'.

But now he knew just how wrong he was. The Alpha-Omegas were pure evil. McCullough was pure evil….Everything that went on in that base, under that colonel's rule, was pure evil.

"I need to go for a walk." Derek suddenly got up from his chair and grabbed his coat.

Everyone looked at him with surprise and some concern. "Are you ok, Derek?" Asked Dreyfus.

"Yes, I just need to think." Or not think. His mind felt too overwhelmed for any thinking right now. He just knew he had to go and be alone right now. "Carry on without me." With that, he left.

Everyone stared at the doorway where Derek had been. The silence was almost deafening.

Finally, Dreyfus broke it. "I have never seen him do that before.." He said with a suspicious frown.

"He just needs time to cool off." Said Tori. She was still sitting next to Koba. They had stayed silent throughout the whole scene. Just sitting there and watching it unfold without knowing what to say or do. "We wouldn't get anything done with him stressed out."

"I think we're all a little stressed out here." Said Foster.

Ellie was thinking. Her mind trying to piece together the Spazz mystery. She felt like she was working on a giant puzzle and Spazz was somehow a piece of it. He came from a lab, he had an owner in the past. Who else? She glanced at Koba, who was signing with Maurice. They had owners. They may not be alive anymore, but the scarred bonobo and the orangutan had belonged to them all the same. They may not have had wires stuck in their heads but…

Wait! Ellie thought back to the days where things made sense. Back in the days where humans lived without a care in the world and apes were ignored and tormented. Before the virus. She remembered one time when her daughter had begged her for a puppy for her birthday. It was literally the only thing she wanted more than any doll in the toy store. The one thing she asked for every chance she got. Ellie had finally gave in and, while Sarah was at preschool, she had gone to the pound and picked out a spaniel puppy. Sarah was over the moon when she got her and had named the dog Lady, after the spaniel from Lady and The Tramp. Her favorite movie.

Pounds. Labs. Zoos. Circus'. They're all different from each other, but they all house animals….And if she remembered correctly, when she got Lady for Sarah, the little puppy had fresh stitches in her abdomen…

If pounds do this to future pets, then would…?

"Guys!" She gasped, surprising herself. "We need to look at all the files of apes who used to be in captivity."

"Why? What is-"

Ellie barely looked at the surprised and confused looks. She was already looking through boxes. Her mind racing.

"I think I have an idea."

* * *

Red's back still ached from the tattoo the humans had given him. He was surprised the instrument they had used hadn't drawn blood as it distorted his skin in white ink. Winter had it much worse, as his own back was still healing from that beating he had not too long ago. Due to his white fur, the younger gorilla's tattoo was in black. It looked horrible on him.

They now both had the 'Donkey' tattoo on their backs. Red felt like the tattoos themselves meant that he and Winter were no longer free. Like from now on, they were mere objects that belonged to the colonel and the soldiers. It made him sick to his stomach.

"You better listen up cause this is the only time I'm going to say this." McCullough's voice echoed. Where were they? The colonel insisted on them being blindfolded as he and his followers lead them here. All Red knew was that after his and Winter's backs were distorted in the ugly ink, the humans had tranquilized them and when they woke up, they were blindfolded and were being forced to follow the colonel and whoever else was with him as they walk through what felt like a maze.

He had absolutely no idea where they were, which only added to his growing anxiety.

"What I'm about to show you is highly confidential. Only a select few of my soldiers know of this place, but no one knows _where_ this place is or _how_ to locate it." If his voice wasn't intimidating enough, the echo made him sound worse. Red felt something grab his hand and knew it was Winter. For once, he felt the same fear as the albino did. "If you leave this premiss, for any reason, you must be accompanied by a soldier and you must be tranquilized in order to be brought here and taken out. I will not allow _anyone_ , human or ape, knowing how to get in and out of this place. Including those who follow me."

 _I will never follow you._ Red thought fiercely. _I may bare your mark, but you will never be my leader._ He bitterly held his tongue, knowing better than to speak those words.

They turned a corner and stopped suddenly. McCullough snapped his fingers loudly and the blindfolds were taken off of the two gorillas faces. Red blinked in surprise. The white-bricked walls were smooth and solid, possibly causing the echoing. Both the floor and the ceiling appeared to be solid concrete or cement.

"Now then." McCullough barked. Grabbing their attention. "Your job, Red, and Winter," Their names sounded wrong in the colonel's voice. Like he was spitting on them. He suddenly opened the door next to them. "Is to watch her."

Inside the room, much to Red and Winter's shock was a little, female bonobo child.

* * *

 **A's/N: I hope you guys like conspiracies because the next several chapters will be FULL OF THEM!**

 **So it looks like Grey is coming back to the team-sort of! XD He's going to become important later on in the story, so yeah.**

 **A lot of you have been asking if Pope and Dot would save each other...Let's just say, you guys won't be disappointed! 3**

 **Now then...Koba's been forgiven by Caesar and the others, has been reunited with Dolly and his long-lost father, found love and has decided to redeem himself...He's on the right road, but he's not out of the woods yet! I still got lots of plans for our favorite bonobo! :3**

 **LOL! Ya know how in the Hunger Games, Katniss is known as 'the girl on fire'? Well then, Lake is the girl on fire in this story! You guys can expect to see her and Red and Winter more often from here on. ;D**

 **This would be the first conspiracy...Caroline is alive, and is apparently McCullough's lover!...While I'm on the subject, you guys may wanna keep an eye on Milo, Tori, that little girl in the video, and especially Derek!...Yeah, things are about to get dramatic again!**

 **Thyme- Dot's late husband**

 **Remy(name from the rat in Rattaolie)- Dot's late son**

 **Now, who is Pat? LOL, I imagine there are other medical personal like Ellie in the city (such as doctors, nurses, dentists, shrinks and stuff. This may come into play again later!). Pat's just a minor character who will give poor Milo some new teeth. XD**

 **I noticed a lot of you are also saddened by Hazell's death. Don't worry guys! Even though she's dead, Hazell is still one of the main characters of the story! Much like Ishmael, I plan to have her reappear in Preacher's flashbacks to explain how they met and how their relationship made Preacher choose to fight for the apes so even though she's gone, you have not seen the last of her. ;) (speaking of Preacher, what is the colonel doing with him?)**

 **Anyways, I hope you all had an awesome New Years (I know it's late but still!) and you had a lovely Valentines Day! (Honestly, I just do nothing on that day but eat chocolate and heart shaped cookies! XD)**

 **Thanks for reading and please review! 3**


	13. Good Human Work

**A/N'S: HUHZZZAAAHHHH! I FINISHED THIS STINKEN CHAPTER! :D :D :D :D :D WHOOOO HOOOO! Fifty reviews! For that, I think I'll do something a little special at the end of the chapter. ;D Thanks, guys!**

 **Trying to think...No, I don't think there's anything in this chapter that I need to warn you guys about so, enjoy! XD**

* * *

The two gorillas glanced at each other, speechless. It was Red who looked at the colonel with a frown. "You. Imprison. Children?" There was a hint of a growl in his voice but he didn't care if this despicable human heard it or not.

McCullough scoffed at his words. "Not all of them. Just her." He glanced at the child before looking back at the gorillas. "Since all the other children have disappeared, I suppose that makes her the only child left in the base."

Red kept his mouth shut. He didn't have to look at Winter to know that the albino was also holding his tongue. If the colonel suspected the two knew where the children were or that it was Will and Preacher who had helped them escape, he gave no indication.

"Why don't you two go in there and meet her for a bit." He suggested instead. "She doesn't get any visitors."

Before either of the apes could object, Red felt himself get shoved inside the room. Winter was pushed inside just seconds afterwards. The ones who forced them inside turned out to be two other Donkey's. Both were gorillas with some sort of mask on their faces. The door closed before they could get a good look at them though.

Now in the dark, Red felt the fur on his neck, shoulder and back stick up. There was something about the room that just didn't feel right. Looking around, he and Winter could tell that the walls were devoid of any color and the floor was just cold cement, like the floors in the hallway only littered with lonesome toys with fake smiles.

It was the smell that got to them the most though. It smelled exactly like how the girl looked: as if she never left the room…At all…For _anything_. The only hint of a different door other than the entry door was a curtain that hung on the right however, Red and Winter had a feeling that wasn't an exit.

But none of this creeped them out nearly as much as the girl herself. When they glanced at her, they realized she was staring right at them. Her large eyes seemed to have grown slightly bigger, as if she'd never seen another ape up close before. _How long had she been in here?_

The three just stared at each other. It was only then that the two gorillas realized the girl's eyes were brown, like tree bark. This only confused them further. Why would McCullough keep a primitive ape child locked away like this? Primitive apes are normally just regular apes who aren't smart, but one that's a child would probably be useless in a war. Not just because of their age but because primitive apes would lack the knowledge to survive and would likely run away or try to fight without thinking.

Despite this, there was something off about the girl. Her gaze wasn't threatening or menacing by any means and she could easily be the most harmless, defenseless ape that Red had ever seen, but she made him feel uneasy. He felt as if she could see his insides. No, as if she could see his very soul.

Winter trembled. _Why?_ He asked himself. This was no bear. This wasn't a soldier, or any other threat. This was a child, no different than the several that had been born and raised within the colony back at home. Even if she did attack, him being nearly an adult gorilla meant that Winter could easily overpower her with just one hand and she was already much smaller than normal as is. There was nothing about her that indicated that she was dangerous, but her eyes frightened him nonetheless.

She was still for a while, the only movement she made was blinking her eyes. When she finally stood up, it sent shivers down their backs. Her legs and arms were so long and skinny that they looked like they belonged to a spider. Heck, she _looked_ like a spider herself!

But it was what she did next that caught them off guard the most.

"Gorillas."

What...?!

"You're…Gorillas."

The furs on Red's shoulders stood up and his eyes widened as he stared at her. Winter's jaw fell open.

This girl…Just spoke…And she's a primitive ape! The few primitive apes Red and Winter had ever met rarely ever knew sign language, let alone could speak.

She spoke slowly and with a light stutter, as if each word was almost too complicated for her small tongue to sound out. "...You...C-Come from..Here?"

Red, still in shock that she could talk, didn't know what to say so he dumbly said: "What?"

"Where...Did you..C-Come from?" She asked again. She didn't seem annoyed in the slightest.

"The-the forest." Red stuttered himself. He gulped. _So she can talk. Big deal, she's still just a little child. What could harm could she really do?_ "How you learn to speak?" He asked her. He would have signed the question, but, given the fact that she was living down here in this dark place with seemingly no one else around, he had a gut feeling that she probably never even learned the language.

She pointed at the door. "The man…The man with…H-Holes in his F-face."

 _Holes in his face?_ Only one human fit that description. McCullough. His sunglasses _did_ make his face resemble that of a human skull: Hollow and empty, with large holes as eyes gazing back at you. Ironically, the colonel was the bringer of death in this horrible place.

Winter glanced from the door to Red, his eyes growing wide with worry. Wordlessly, the two gorillas sat down on the floor. They were still giants compared to her, but it was as close to her eye-level as they could get.

"I'm Winter." Winter wasn't as good around kids as Lake was, but he could relate to them better than Red could. He nodded at Red. "He Red...What your name?"

"Rose." The girl squeaked without trouble. It was probably the only thing she knew about herself.

Someone cared about her. Someone named her. It may not have been her mother, but someone gave her a name. _Where are her parents?_

"Why you here?" Red asked. He was no longer uneasy about the girl, but rather for her safety.

Rose pulled a rag over her shoulders, possibly her blanket. "He use me to…Find P-People...The ones who…Hate him…"

That's a weird reason to keep any child in a room like this. Besides, wouldn't McCullough have someone older and above ground do that? This room isn't even equipped to be an office, let alone used to identify and locate McCullough's enemies.

"How...?" Winter sounded just as unsure as Red felt. The unsettling feeling was creeping its way back at them. Rose didn't belong in this room, and neither did they. Red wanted to get out of here and take both Winter and the tiny bonobo with him, but couldn't think of any way to do that.

"They sleep..." Rose climbed on her tire swing, now she was at perfect eye-level with the two gorillas. She placed one tiny hand on Red's head and the other on Winter's. "...They dream..." She returned her hands to her own head. "I…Go...In.." She put her hands down. "…I see…What's...In-S-side"

Red and Winter could only stare at her. She had to be making this up, children her age do it all the time. When they were her age, Ash thought he could fly (which ended when he leaped from a rock and face planted into the mud. It was mean that the others laughed at him, but it was funny at the time) and Winter used to cover himself in mud and grime to hide his albinism while Red thought he could disappear by shutting his eyes tightly. They were lies that were dreamt up by the imagination of children. As harmless as can be, and as embarrassing to remember as ever.

But this was different. Rose obviously didn't grow up in the forest like Red, Winter, Ash and the other teenage and young adult apes did, and it was unlikely that she had any sort of interaction with other apes her age. Her room hardly looked like a decadent place to sleep in, let alone daydream. Even her toys offered little chance for imagination. So how could Rose dream up a story about herself like that if she lived in a place as empty and dark as this?

"He..Hurt you?" Red needed to know this. If McCullough could kill a newborn baby, what could he do to a child?

Rose tilted her head to the side. "He hurt me?" She asked. "Dreams hurt…S-sometimes…But he…Not hurt me."

Just then, the door opened again. "Times up, Donkey's." Is that what they're called now? "Get out and stand watch."

Winter hesitated before walking over to the door. He glanced at Red and Rose, his concern showing in his soft green eyes.

Red felt a feeling he hated more than Caesar's sympathy for the humans. Helplessness. He didn't know what to do, he just knew that he didn't want to leave Rose in this room by herself like she had been for who knows how long. But he didn't want Winter to be alone outside the room either. Red knew from training that Winter's way of fighting was running away from his opponent. If that albino were to be left alone in that hallway, with no one to protect him, he'll likely get killed…And leave Red to fend for himself.

 _There's nothing in here that can hurt her._ He reasoned with himself. _If the colonel is using her, then he wouldn't kill her, right? She should be perfectly safe here…Well, safer down here than she would be above ground._

"You outside." Rose said suddenly. Her brown eyes were cast down. "Guards…Always Ou-outside." The sad words seemed more for herself than for the red furred gorilla.

"To protect you." Red told her. "Keep you safe." It was an attempt to reassure her, but Red wondered just how safe he and Winter could keep her.

Rose shook her head. "..Don't want..Pro..Tech..S-sion." She looked up at him. "Want…Outside.."

"DONKEY!" Red flinched at the loud yell. He had to get out before they punish him. He glanced at Rose one last time before finally obeying the soldier's demand. He joined Winter outside the door as the solider closed and locked it behind them. McCullough was still there, his glare intensified by his sunglasses.

"Interesting child, isn't she?" He asked as he walked over to the two gorillas. "She was a lucky catch. Apes like her are hard to find because of their eyes. It's so easy to mistake them for a primitive ape."

The way he talked about Rose was disgusting. It was as if he was talking about his best and finest kill or a trout he caught rather than a person he had locked up.

"What..You doing with her?" Red tried to hold the growl that he knew was waiting to erupt deep in his throat.

McCullough snorted at his question as if it were a joke. "Three minutes in that room with her and you already care about her?" He asked sarcastically. He looked at the door, then back at Red. "Let's just say that she is an asset to my success." With that, he turned and left. The soldier following behind him.

Red frowned as he watched the humans go. What did he mean by that? What does any of this have to do with Rose? He glanced at Winter, who never took his eyes off the door. When their eyes met, Red knew the white-furred gorilla was thinking the same thing as him.

The colonel brought them down here to keep Rose in her prison room. But they're going to protect her from him. And somehow, set her free.

* * *

Darkness was everywhere. It didn't matter if Preacher was fast asleep or wide awake. The pitch blackness never left him.

Preacher didn't know where he was, but he had a pretty good idea. There were rummers in the base that McCullough had a secret prison underneath his quarters. It was only rummers, but it was a known fact that some people, both humans, and apes, would go into the colonel's office and would rarely, if not then never, be seen again.

Preacher suspected that's where he is now. His cell reminded him of the solitary confinement cells they used to use in the bigger jails. But it only made him feel numb inside. He felt like McCullough could do anything he wanted to do with him but nothing would break him any more than he already was.

Hazell is dead. By not the colonel's hand, but by his own. He had killed the one person who brought color to his gray and empty world. The one who made him see what he had been blind to for so long. But worst of all, he had killed the last, and only, living person he loved and who loved him in return. To make things even worse, their children were gone too. Hazell had lived long enough to see their daughter die at the hands of the man who, in Preacher's mind, was more dangerous than any virus…And their son…Their Hopely…What has become of him?…Preacher hoped his son had made it to the city, but knew his son may be dead too.

It was because of this that the renegade soldier spent most of his time in his dark cell asleep and dream only about Hazell. It was his only escape. The only place he knew Hazell would always remain.

She was dead. She was gone. But her memory will never die and her spirit would never leave him.

 _Flashback:_

 _Normal._

 _The word itself felt alien to him. It was a word who's meaning was long forgotten. A way of life that died out before he could fully appreciate it._

 _Even though it had been years since the last time he had lived 'normally', Preacher could still remember the playing field he and his childhood friends played baseball in, the heat and sweat on their bodies, and the anticipation of chocolate and cake batter flavored frozen yogurt with rainbow sprinkles for lunch. He also remembered his home: his mother's pancakes, his father reading a newspaper, his old attempts as a young boy to get out of going to church on Sundays and only looking forward to seeing his friends at school from Monday to Friday._

 _It was his normalcy, his life. But now it was just a memory. An echo of conversations and events in a world that no longer existed. The hauntings of people he had once known and were now ghosts to him._

 _What probably intimidated Preacher the most was his fellow soldiers themselves. They reminded him of the bullies from his elementary and middle schools: big, bulky, and mean-faced. The few women in the base were tough and fast. They made the famous 'girls are weak' belief seem like the words of a drunken idiot. The female soldiers often looked so strong, that Preacher wondered if they could bite through metal with their teeth and shatter bones to pieces with their bare hands._

 _In other words, don't piss them off!_

 _However, Preacher had learned long ago that it was the soldiers who were the closest to Colonel McCullough that were the most dangerous. The colonel had power over life and death, and those who followed him the closest, were the ones who carried out his orders. They could be the ones who killed, or the ones who spared lives with a simple nod from the leader._

 _Preacher chose to keep to himself. It was hard, since those who formed alliances or, what he called, 'base gangs', often tried to intimidate or show dominance over any soldier or 'Donkey' who walked alone. But it felt safer than putting trust in a person who bragged about killing and looked like they could…And_ ** _WOULD_** _…kill you in a second._

 _Today was an average day…Or as average as it gets in the base…Preacher had just gotten his lunch for the day: a slice of bread pulled over old peanut butter, some jelly and bits of cooked bird meat. It wasn't much and it certainly wasn't anything, but it'll do._

 _He was walking to the safest place he knew in this dark world of death: His quarters. Or rather, the barracks. It was one area of the base that was vacant during lunch time as most of the soldiers would eat at the mess hall. It was a long walk, but nothing too bad. It just made Preacher wonder just how big this base actually was._

 _Just then, someone grabbed him and pinned him to the wall. "Where do ya think you're going, Small Fry?" Boyle. His face was just inches from Preacher's._

 _"_ _I..I..I.." Preacher struggled for words. Boyle was one of the soldiers who had his own 'followers'. Travis and Lang were behind him, both smirking at Preacher as their leader held him against the wall. He didn't care for any of the three in the slightest. Boyle was a literal firebomb, ready to explode at anyone who got him mad while Lang and Travis only acted on orders without hesitation or second thoughts. However, whenever Boyle decided to pick on someone, Lang and Travis always found it amusing._

 _"_ _You were what? Going somewhere? What do you got there anyway?"_

 _Before he knew what was happening, Boyle yanked his fold over sandwich out of Preacher's hands. "Mmmm looks yummy!"_

 _"_ _Th-That's mine! It's my-"_

 _Boyle took a big bite out of the sandwich, ignoring Preacher completely. He chewed, and then spat out the contents on the ground and handed what was left back to Preacher. "Here you go, enjoy whatever's left." He said sarcastically._

 _Preacher only stared at his ruined food as the three walked away laughing at him. Hurt wasn't enough to describe what he felt. That was HIS food! Boyle had no right to take it from him! It was all he had! What was he going to now?!_

 _His stomach growled hungrily and Preacher sighed, trying to force the building tears back into his eyes. If things were different, he'd go back to the mess hall and get a fresh sandwich and be on his way, but food had been going scarce. Forcing the cooks in the mess hall to make a 'one serving per person' rule._

 _He'll starve today._

 _Why me? He thought. I never did anything to him._

 _There were many reasons why survivors joined the Alpha-Omega group. Preacher himself had been forced to join by his mother. She was one of the many who believed the virus was a holy curse, meant to cleanse the world of the impure-yeah, one of those crazy heads!-While Preacher himself never followed his mother's beliefs of the virus, he had no choice and there was no reasoning with her after his father fell victim to the virus-which had, of course, strengthened his mother's beliefs since his father never converted or ever went to church._

 _Boyle's reason for joining was unclear. He very well may have joined just to try and survive, but Preacher felt like it was just so he could bully him_

 _The sound of footsteps reached his ears, but he didn't move. Assuming it to be Boyle or someone else to pick on him. But then, he heard a soft hoot. He turned his head to his right, and saw an ape staring at him._

 _An ape? Oh. He was so startled by Boyle's attack that he didn't notice he was right next to the slave pen._

 _The ape was a female chimp with rich, brown fur and eyes the color of spring. She should have been afraid of him, but she wasn't. The look in her eyes as she gazed at him was that of pure sympathy._

 _Preacher could only stare back at her. Waiting for her to make a move._

 _Then, much to his surprise, she reached out and held something in her hand. An apple. She held it out to him, offering the red and yellow fruit to the soldier._

 _Preacher was so shocked he was speechless. Ever since the moment he first stepped foot into this base, he'd been told that apes were the scourge they had to destroy. That they were the evil monsters who created the Simian Flu. That they could not, under any circumstances, be trusted. By all means, he should get up and leave. He shouldn't even look at her._

 _But his hunger got the better of him._

 _With a shaking hand, Preacher slowly reached over and took the apple into his own hands. Amazingly, despite it being given to the apes, it was fresh. He looked back at the chimp. "…Th…Thank you…" He stuttered, not sure if she understood him or not._

 _She answered in the form of a small nod. She was about to turn around and return to wherever she came from when Preacher stopped her._

 _"_ _W-Wait a minute." His own voice surprised him. What was he doing? Preacher knew he'd get in a lot of trouble for this if he was caught and he should just take the apple and run, but it didn't feel right._

 _She had given him her food, and she was an enslaved ape. She and her people were suffering because of soldiers like him. But that didn't stop her from showing a little bit of generosity to him. He shouldn't do this, but how could he take her food with nothing to give back other than a thank you?_

 _He took his pocket knife out of his pocket and cut the apple in half. He then held out one of the pieces to her. "For you."_

 _Her eyes darted from him to the apple piece. This must have been the very first time any human had shown her kindness. She hesitated before reaching out again and taking the apple half. She then looked at him again. Her lips slowly formed a smile._

 _"…_ _Thank you…"_

 _Preacher wasn't expecting her to speak. He knew some of the apes could talk but they usually didn't around the soldiers. Their voices sounded strange, almost disturbing, to Preacher. But not her's. Her voice made him feel calm…The most calm he had felt in years…_

 _There was a loud noise from somewhere inside the pen, causing the chimp to turn around and look. From where Preacher sat, he couldn't see it but he recognized the sound of the door of the pen opening._

 _She glanced at him one last time before taking a bite of the apple half and eating it as fast as she could. The look on her face was enough to tell Preacher that it was time for him to go._

 _He stood up and rushed over to the barracks. He wasn't sure why he ran, just that he felt like he needed to._

 _Once he knew he was safe, Preacher looked down at his apple half. It's tasty juice getting the tips of his fingers wet and sticky. He took a bite, and then another. Savoring every delicious crunch of the fruit._

 _He tried to enjoy it, and he honestly did, but his mind kept going back to that wall and, despite his efforts, all he could think about was the female chimp and her small act of kindness._

 _It was a flicker of light in the dark world he knew all too well._

 _End of Flashback_

* * *

The last thing Lake expected to happen to her once she had entered McCullough's quarters was to wash dishes. She'd never done this before so the smooth plates and silvery utensils felt slippery to her and the sponge she was given had to be the weirdest object she had ever seen. She had been mentally and emotionally preparing herself for the worst, but this chore made her previous expectations for torture and possible death seem laughable.

There were other apes with her, which made eased her nerves for now. There was a severely burned gorilla who was, half-heartedly, moping the floor while the female elderly orangutan was folding clothes…Or was pretending she was. They weren't too bad to look at, but the orangutan seemed ancient to her and the gorilla's scar made Lake wonder if the colonel used fire to torture apes. She didn't really want to know. Every scar on the two strangers seemed like a result of torture. Each item in the sink seemed like an instrument of pain in Lake's shaking hands as she tried to scrub and clean off whatever debris was caked on them.

Lake saw only one other human inside. A woman who McCullough had called Elaine. Right away, Lake knew there was something off about her. She couldn't say what, but there was something about Elaine that let the female chimp know that she was not like McCullough.

Elaine didn't stay long enough to talk to though. Just half an hour after Lake started washing the dishes, Elaine walked out of her room, wearing a knee-length skirt and a matching short jacket over a white collar blouse. Her earrings catching what little light the room had. She then left with McCullough, although she kept her gaze downward the whole time.

Lake had just finished scrubbing off something pink and squishy on a plate when she felt someone tap her on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the gorilla. His eyes were as green as moss. _"You attacked and killed the soldiers outside."_ He signed.

Lake didn't know how to answer, so she just nodded.

 _"_ _Why did you do that?"_ He asked her.

Lake placed the now clean plate on the counter as she reached for the next one. Clearly this gorilla had seen what happened outside. She was still trying to recover from the adrenaline she had felt and the shock that she wasn't dead yet to let the reality of what she did sink in.

 _"_ _I was angry."_ She answered, feeling relief at finally doing something normal with her hands.

 _"_ _Why were you angry?"_

She eyed him suspiciously for a second. If the gorilla was a Donkey, his burn scars covered the tattoos too well for them to be visible. The old female orangutan certainly didn't bare them, the Donkey word itself may have been camouflaged by her whitening fur but not the AO letters which would have been right over her eyebrow.

 _"_ _Weren't you?"_ Lake asked instead. _"He killed a baby and then acted as if it was the right thing to do, never mind the fact that the baby was just born, and declaring war on innocent people."_

There was a look in his eyes that Lake couldn't quite place. It had to be sadness, but it felt deeper than just that. _"I was."_ He signed. _"I was especially angry because I knew the mother of that child."_

Lake almost dropped the plate she had picked up. She looked at the scarred gorilla in shock. That's right. The colonel had forced a soldier to kill a female chimp just seconds after he crushed the baby. That female was the baby's mother…And that soldier…He…He was one of the soldiers she had seen when she attempted to escape!

Seeing her interest, the gorilla continued. _"Her name was Hazell. She was one of the bravest apes I ever met."_ It wasn't just sadness in his eyes. It was regret.

At this point, Lake had put down the plate she was supposed to clean and was now fully facing him. " _Why did McCullough have her killed?"_ She asked.

 _"_ _She met Preacher."_ He shook his head at the memory. _"It wasn't meant to be. She was a slave, and he was a soldier. She was ape, and he was human. But they fell in love anyway. He got her pregnant but the colonel didn't know a thing until the twins were born."_

Twins? _"But he killed only one baby."_

 _"_ _She was the second born."_ He explained. _"We managed to hide the first one before McCullough came but we were too late for the other one."_

 _"_ _We?"_ There was something about the gorilla Lake couldn't put her finger on. It was like he knew something…Something that, in a place like this, should remain a secret.

But whatever it may be, he felt he could tell her. _"Hazell wasn't just an ape who fell in love with the enemy. She was one of the leaders of the rebels."_

Rebels?! Lake said nothing as he went on. Her full attention on him as she wanted to know every word.

 _"_ _It started with Hazell organizing troops of apes to go and steal food from the soldiers. Then she met Preacher, and he became a rebel himself but it turned out that there are human rebels in the base too. Will, another soldier who goes by the name of Roscoe, was one of them. After that, the human rebels and ape rebels united and started figuring out ways to stop McCullough."_

Lake took a moment for all this to sink in. Rebels within the base. Both humans and apes. Working together to try and defeat the colonel. It sounded impossible, considering how everyone in the ape colony had said humans were their enemies. _Uniting_ to destroy the same enemy.

She suddenly remembered what Roscoe-or Will, had said earlier. _"The escapes…They weren't just escapes, were they?"_

 _"_ _They were mass escapes."_ He replied. _"We organized them to get the slaves and anyone captured in here out."_ He looked regretful again. _"Hazell should have been one of them. But that stubborn chimp wouldn't leave until everyone inside were free."_

 _"_ _Even though she was pregnant?"_ Asked Lake.

 _"_ _Yes."_ He confirmed.

 _Well, that wasn't smart of her. Why would an expectant mother want to stay in a place like this?_ Lake asked herself. The base itself was hardly fit to be a home to any creature aside from the humans who followed the colonel, and they were merely tolerating it. She wondered if McCullough himself ever _liked_ living here. _If Hazell wanted to leave, she had her chance. Why would she stay here and-_ It suddenly hit her. Maurice's teachings repeated themselves in her mind. _"Caesar was raised by humans."_ He had said one day. _"They raised him like one of their own. As their son. He never saw their dark side until he was placed in a cage in the shelter. When they came to get him back, he had a choice. Return to his human family, or stay and free his own kind. It is because of his decision that we are all here."_

Lake never liked having to listen to Maurice's teachings. It wasn't that she didn't like Maurice, it was more out of the boredom that came with learning about about things that happened before she herself existed.

But that lesson about Caesar's decision she had long forgotten and had ignored at the time suddenly sounded a lot like Hazell's own choices: Both Caesar and Hazell had a choice. They didn't need to stay and fight for the freedom of their kind, but they did. They could have left all the horrors they had witnessed behind them and live with their loved ones as if they'd never seen suffering at all, but they didn't. And in doing so, they both risked their lives but they were willing to do it if it meant saving their fellow apes. The only real differences were that one of them fought for just the apes and the other fought for both apes _and_ humans and one of them survived while the other was killed.

 _"_ _She didn't want to leave without fighting for the others."_ It wasn't really a question, more like putting the pieces together as Lake realized just how similar Hazell was to Caesar.

 _"_ _If that's how you want to put it, yes."_ Signed the gorilla. _"Hazell was a fool for staying here even though she knew she, or her children, could die if she didn't leave. Rowena and I told her to go, but she just wouldn't listen."_

Lake didn't know what say so she let the gorilla rant until she could no longer hold the question back. _"Why are you telling me all this?"_

 _"_ _Because of what you did out there."_ He told her. _"How you attacked the soldiers and didn't stop until you were forced to. You reminded me of Hazell. She never attacked like you did, but she had the same fighting spirit as you."_

Fighting spirit? _"I'm not a fighter."_ Heck. Aside from today, Lake had never fought anyone in her life. She argued with other apes from time to time, but never physically fought them. Males were naturally trained to fight, to protect their families and the colony. It was the whole point of the Ape Army and Gorilla Guard, the very grounds for which they were built on. It wasn't a law that only males could fight, just that females usually didn't have the need or interest to train.

Besides, Lake had chosen her place long ago: taking care of the ape children. She wanted to be like Maurice and be a teacher. She didn't know what she'd teach them, just that she felt safer and more at peace when they surrounded her.

The gorilla smiled a little at her. _"You don't have to be a fighter to be make a change."_ He signed, surprising her. _"You just have to try."_

There was a loud noise outside, a gunshot perhaps. The noise startled them out of their conversation and Lake scrambled to clean as many dishes as she could while the gorilla went back to moping the floor. Even if the shooter wasn't going to come inside, no one wanted to be caught not doing their chores.

It at least gave Lake time to think once the shock of the gunfire wore off. _Me?_ She asked herself as she stared at the soapy water. _How can I make a change? I'm not Caesar, or Hazell…I'm just…I'm only…_ Lake struggled to think for a moment, until it slowly came to her. _Me…_

She looked up out the small window. Through the clouded and old glass, she could clearly see the slave pen…And the fence she had tried to escape from. She remembered that ape she had tried to protect from the soldiers. It resulted in her being tased, but she successfully got to bite the human's nose nonetheless. There are other apes in the base, some may be rebels and others may not be, but they had to have followed or agreed with Hazell, right? And if they did, then surely they'd follow Caesar too, right?

 _Forget about Caesar._ She told herself. _These apes don't want to be here. They'd follow anyone who could free them._

Lake didn't get a chance to talk to the gorilla again, but she overheard the colonel call him Cortez when he returned. She also learned that Rowena was the old orangutan he had mentioned. It didn't take long for Lake to figure out that both of them had known Hazell and were two of the rebels within the base. She wondered just how many there were. If there were more human rebels, or ape.

She tried to focus on whatever chore the colonel had her do. From washing the dishes, to making his and Elaine's bed. But despite her best efforts, she found herself continually thinking back to Cortez and what he had told her. _I'm no leader._ She thought to herself. That's what she said about being a fighter. Yet, Cortez had said she had a fighting spirit. _Even If I did, how can I make any sort of change?_

It wasn't until she glimpsed Andy and Lucky outside that she remembered her rage from earlier. How badly she wanted to tear and rip the soldiers apart and how she wanted to roar until the earth split in two. The fire, _her_ fire, that McCullough had unknowingly ignited her.

 _I can't be the only one who's angry._

She still didn't know if she should trust Cortez and Rowena, or by how much, or if what the scarred gorilla said was even true, and she knew that if she went down this road, she could very easily be McCullough's next victim.

But Lake, one of the most peaceful and quiet apes in Caesar's colony. The one who played with the children. The girl who's had her eye on the prince ever since they were little. Decided to put whatever fear she had aside, and let her fire burn.

* * *

"Here's another one." Said Foster as he came back in the room, carrying yet another box full of files. "Not sure how many of these are apes though."

"That's ok, just look through it." Ellie replied her focus on the file she was currently looking through.

She still hadn't told them what they were doing, just that she had Foster, Koba, Dreyfus, Luca and Tori go looking around for any and all file boxes inside the building (surprisingly, there were a few that weren't already in the file room) while she and Malcolm, Caesar and Maurice pulled out the ones that belonged to apes and Kempt, Stone and Rocket moving the rest back into the corner.

"This is wasting our time, what if the Alpha-Omegas attack again?" Dreyfus grudgingly asked as he dropped the box of files he was carrying on the floor. "What are we looking for anyway?"

Ellie would have snapped at him if she hadn't realized at that moment that she had been so caught up in her idea that she never even told the others exactly what it was. She picked up a file, flipped it open and searched it until she pulled out one of the documents. "This."

The document she held up was titled **MICROCHIP IMPLANTATION INFORMATION**. It listed the ape's name, date of birth, gender, species and where they were born in and underneath that, it had numbers next to **CHIP NUMBER:**.

"Back when the apes were in captivity, humans used to inject them with chips."

"Chips?" Caesar wasn't sure if he liked the sound of this.

"Tracking devices." Ellie clarified. "They were meant to find any ape that had escaped or got lost."

"Wait a minute." Dreyfus frowned. "Are you saying most of these apes have tracking devices inside of them?"

"If they have the document in their file then yes." Ellie suddenly felt wary of Dreyfus.

"Why the hell didn't Anvil know that? They could have found all the apes using those things!"

"Because Anvil was a bunch of nincompoops who didn't do their homework and didn't care where the apes came from, just as long as they were all dead." Said Kempt.

The apes became silent and still. Caesar could feel his ears burning. Koba's fur was sticking up. Luca, Stone, and Rocket were glaring at Dreyfus while Maurice breathed slowly. In a near growl tone, Caesar spoke: "You. Were with. Those humans?"

Uh oh. Dreyfus realized his mistake. "I knew _of_ them. I did not send them out to kill you."

If Dreyfus was trying to ease the tension, it wasn't working. Caesar could feel his insides getting tight and his throat closing. Wasn't this the very human who had locked Koba up in the Jail and wanted to throw the apes out of the city?

Seeing the look on the Ape King's face, Dreyfus frowned at him. "What? Are you going to condemn me just because I was afraid of you in the past?"

"Guys, we don't have time for this." Malcolm intervened before the tension could rise any further. His voice was calm, but his eyes were filled with worry. Internally, Malcolm was screaming _No! Not this again!_ but out loud, he said: "We're all on the same page here. The only enemy we have is the Alpha-Omegas. We don't have to fight each other."

Before anything else could happen, Foster added. "Ok, back to the chips. Where would the apes have gotten them from?"

"Anywhere." Ellie was just relieved Caesar and Dreyfus had settled down for now. "Zoo's, circus', research centers, laboratories. It's possible all the apes Caesar freed has one."

At this point, Caesar didn't know what was making his so mad. Dreyfus having any knowledge of the humans who'd tried to kill him and his apes ten winters ago felt like a betrayal but the possibility of his apes having a human object floating around inside of them was disturbing. He wondered if Will and Charles had that done to him, but wasn't sure.

"Human work." Koba grumbled after he set the box he was holding down.

When he looked at him, Caesar realized he wasn't the only one. Koba was scratching at the scar on his right arm as he glared at the files. Stone, Maurice, Luca, and Rocket looked just as disturbed as the scarred bonobo. It was different though. Caesar might be angry with the fact that his apes were forcefully infected with this device, but his fellow council members must be feeling violated by the knowledge that something human-made was lodged somewhere in their bodies and they couldn't take it out even if they wanted to. Like an invisible leash and collar.

"No." Ellie wasn't blind, she could see the anger and the hurt in the apes. "It's _good_ human work. These chips are stronger than the ones they implanted in dogs and cats. They're injected into the back of the ape's skull and if the ape suffers head trauma, the chip will send a stress signal to all it's contacts-including the ape's location."

That got their attention.

"If we make contact with those chips and they add us to their contacts, and one of those apes get hurt, we'll get a stress signal containing their location. We find that ape, we find the base."

Ellie waited for that to sink in. What Dreyfus said next told her that they understood her words.

"…Caesar?…Of those apes that were taken from your colony and are still in the base…Which ones did you free?"

Caesar, his anger gone now that he knew the value of these devices, answered: "Red, Andy, and Lucky."

Malcolm searched through the files until he found the ones that belonged to said apes. He opened each of them up. There was a new feeling as he did. It felt as if the room had been stuffy and closed up and fresh air had finally been released inside. As if the sun had finally started shining again after so many days of rain and dark clouds. As if the shadows of nighttime had been chased away by the arrival of daylight after a long night of fear. Hope. _Real_ hope.

"They have it." Malcolm couldn't hold back a smile. "All three. They all have chips."

"…You guys…" Foster's eyes were huge. "…You realize what this means, right?"

The apes knew alright. Caesar looked at his fellow council members and he knew they knew. _Maybe this kind of human work isn't so bad after all._

"Ok, ok, so what's the plan?" Asked Kempt.

"Make contact with Red, Andy and Lucky's chips and hopefully get their location and go from there." Said Malcolm as he pulled the documents out. They'll need them.

"With what though?" Reality was sinking into Dreyfus's mind. "Not very many computers work and Derek's is only good for flash-drives and DVD's."

Tori was about to make some smart comment at him when she remembered something. Usually, she didn't pay the mayor much attention but there was one thing that she knew he and Malcolm, and some of the other humans had been working on. "Wait a second. Weren't you and your brainiacs working on some radio thingy?" She asked as she looked at Dreyfus.

Dreyfus snorted at her. He wouldn't call Werner or Finney 'brainiacs', but Werner knew more about computers and radios that he did and Finney knew a lot about the gears and gadgets that went into those things. "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Doesn't it include a computer?"

"Yes, in fact, it use to-" Dreyfus paused, suddenly realizing where this was going and, more importantly, remembering where that computer came from and what it's original function was."Holy shit…!"

* * *

Carlos had fallen asleep, giving Dolly a chance to leave their room so she could wander freely. She needed it, after all she'd been through and all the revelations, she just wanted a few moments to herself to let it all sink in.

She walked around the infirmary, exploring the hallways and glancing at each door and window she saw. According to Ellie (who she had gotten to know as the human healer helped with Carlos' problems), the infirmary was the last known working hospital in the city since the riots. From what Dolly could tell, there were only four floors in the building. If there had been more floors in the building, they were destroyed years ago.

With the marbled floor and white walls, Dolly would have thought the place would resemble the labs but the vibe she got from the atmosphere was different. Back in the labs, humans caused pain but here, they make it go away. It was like a reversed Gen-Sys if such a thing existed.

She had just climbed down the stairs to the third floor when she noticed one room in particular with a large, clouded with dust, window and just inside the room behind the window, Dolly could see Cornelia and several other females inside. They were talking and hoot-laughing about something as their young children played with each other. It was then that Dolly noticed the unique, little hybrid being held by Sparrow, one of the healers.

Dolly knew what they were doing before she saw it. She continued on walking, hoping they didn't see her. With his mother gone, Hopely needed someone else to feed him and Cornelia was still breastfeeding Cornelius so it made sense that both she, and anyone else who were producing milk, would help nurse him and they were more than willing to. Even if he was half human.

She knew this…But it didn't make her feel any better. _You're only damaged goods._ Dolly shook her head to try to get the horrible words out but she knew it was futile. When she found out she was unable to bear children, Ishmael may have left her but her fellow bonobos completely turned against her. As if it were a crime to be…Neutered…Caesar was the one who taught her that word, and she honestly hated it with every fiber of her being.

 _No one would marry a barren female like you._

It bothered her that while her wounds have all healed, the words that had been spoken to her by her kind have never left her. She wondered if they ever would.

This was why when Ash ran up to her and hugged her tightly, she didn't hesitate to hold on to him just as tightly.

"Aunt Dolly…" He whimpered as he inhaled her scent.

"It's ok, Ash." She whispered to him, knowing full-well what was making her honorary nephew cry. "We're safe…We're home."

They weren't in the breaking room anymore, but it still haunted them. Ash wasn't his usual, happy and playful self anymore. He had become a scared and easily frightened young ape, who'd hide behind his parents, and any adult, for protection and comfort. It broke Dolly's heart to see him like this.

She looked up and saw Blue Eyes standing there. His eyes weren't wet with tears, but they were filled with the same sadness. Dolly extended her arm to him and the young prince eagerly ran to her and accepted her embrace. He didn't need it as badly as Ash, so Blue Eyes pulled away after a few minutes.

Dolly didn't need to ask, he already knew what she wanted to know.

 _"_ _We saw it."_ He signed. _"The humans recorded what they did to you and Ash and my father. We saw the video."_

So that's what's making poor Ash so upset. Dolly could only cast her gaze to the floor, trying to hold in her own building tears. She'll just have to cry about it later. _"You didn't need to see that."_ She signed instead.

 _"_ _We didn't even know it was there."_ Blue Eyes wished he could unsee that video entirely. In fact, everything that flash-drive contained was horrible. He stomach turned as he thought about what the other flash-drives and whatever videos they carried. _"If we knew, we wouldn't have watched it."_

 _"_ _It doesn't matter."_ Dolly didn't want to talk about this anymore. _"How is your father?"_

Blue Eyes didn't know what to tell her. He hadn't talked to his father that much, but there was a subtle change in him. To Blue Eyes, his father seemed angry. He wasn't acting like it, but it felt as if something was brewing inside of the Ape King. Something that worried both Blue Eyes and his mother. Cornelia had tried countless times to talk to him, but whatever Caesar felt, he chose to keep it to himself.

 _"_ _I don't know."_ That was all he could say in reply. _"Has he talked to you recently?"_

 _"_ _Not since the unity celebration."_ Dolly had assumed her king was simply spending time with his family, just as she had with her own. He had missed them so much when they were in the base and Dolly was so busy worrying about her father and brother that Caesar never crossed her mind. _"Is something wrong?"_

Blue Eyes hesitated. _"I think he's angry…Like Koba, or Pope."_ He immediately doubted himself. His father was never angry like that. In fact, the only times Caesar was ever angry with him was whenever he disobeyed him but even then it wasn't like how it felt now.

At the mention of Pope, Dolly sighed and gave the still whimpering Ash another hug and rubbed his back, thinking. Though she hadn't talked to him since the argument they had in the breaking room, Dolly had seen Pope with a female chimp by the name of Dot. He still seemed angry, but for a different reason.

 _"_ _Everyone seems angry nowadays."_ She signed. _"Your father…My father…Koba…Pope…And that's just the ones we know about."_

Blue Eyes nodded as they fell silent. For a while, the only sound was Ash's whimpers and Dolly soothing him. Blue Eyes distracted himself by looking out the dirty window and staring down at the street below. He tried to go back to the Ape Village in his mind. Back to when the humans were thought to be all gone, and apes could just live peacefully in the forest. He felt homesick for the life that died the second that first bullet was fired.

Dolly hooted softly to him and signed. _"That's her, isn't it?"_

Blue Eyes blinked, then looked out the window again. The others were down below, heading to the tower. He wondered if he should join them, but Blue Eyes really didn't want to deal with whatever they were doing right now. Then he realized what Dolly was talking about.

Though they were feet and heights away from them, Blue Eyes could clearly see Tori and Koba holding hands.

 _"_ _She"s the one they call Tori."_ Dolly went on. _"The one who stayed with my brother in the jail cell?"_

Now he understood what Dolly meant. _"Yes."_ Blue Eyes wasn't the one who told her, but Dolly had found out more about Koba's suicide attempt and what happened afterward. He assumed she found out from Maurice, since he'd visit her the most.

Dolly watched as her brother and the pink haired human walked together. They were just holding hands, it wasn't anything more than that. From the outside, one would think that the two were long-time friends. _"There's something special about that human."_ She signed as she looked back to Blue Eyes.

 _"_ _But she's the daughter of Jacobs, one of the human's who abused you."_ Blue Eyes suddenly remembered how Koba and Tori fought each other all those days-no, weeks!-ago. If the young prince hadn't stopped them, Koba would have killed her.

 _"_ _That isn't her fault. She can't control who her parents are any more than you can."_ Dolly was calm compared to her brother, who had wanted to kill Tori when finding out who she was.

Blue Eyes glanced outside but the others had by now disappeared. He looked back at her. _"What's so special about Her? She's no different than the other humans."_

 _"_ _I didn't say she was."_ Dolly's face seemed to change, though Blue Eyes couldn't quite read it. _"She's special because of what she did for Koba….I believe Koba has locked himself away in a cage of his own design years ago…Caesar may have freed him from the humans, but only Koba could free himself from his cage…I don't think he had the courage to free himself before…But now…I think he finally does.."_

 _"_ _Because he met Tori?"_

 _"_ _Yes, but more because…She can see him…The real him…When most humans couldn't."_ Dolly finally looked at him. _"Does that make any sense?"_

 _"_ _Sort of, yes."_ Blue Eyes found himself reflecting back to when they first met Tori. From the moment they met, she was never afraid of Koba. Even after their fight, she never feared him and when Koba was in the darkest place he could possibly get, Tori was the one who stayed by his side the whole night.

There was a monster living inside Koba…It was consuming and the monster could become him…But Tori had tamed him…

Ash, who'd only made whimper noises up until now, suddenly poked his head up. "W-Want.." He sniffled. "…Want…M-My…Mother.."

Dolly nuzzled her cheek to his, not minding at all that his tears were now staining her fur. "Ok, Ash." She soothed. "I will take you to her." When she looked at Blue Eyes, she asked. _"Do you want to see your mother too?"_

The thought of his mother was enough to make his eyes hurt and he knew tears were filling them. Blue Eyes nodded.

She walked them to the room where Dolly had seen their mothers at. Despite Ash still holding on to her, it wasn't hard to walk. Dolly was used to the 'hugging walk' by now, having done it so many times before with her brother. Once they reached the room, Ash immediately bolted for Tinker, and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Tinker didn't ask, she just held him and let him sob on her. The tears broke free the second Blue Eyes saw Cornelia and he ran to her waiting embrace.

Not knowing what to do with herself, Dolly decided it might be time to go back to her father and walked out of the room. Saving herself the agony of seeing the others nurse Hopely, and being reminded that she'd never get to experience motherhood.

She hardly paid any attention to where she was going, other than the steps on the stairs and the left and right turns that seemed to be everywhere. She was about to open the door to Carlos' room, when she noticed one of the doors in the hallway was left open.

Curiosity got the better of her and she found herself walking down the empty hallway. _I'm just going to peek inside._ She told herself. _It's probably empty anyway._

But she was wrong. The room was occupied. When she looked inside, she saw the chimp laying in a bed with ice on both sides of his face. His eyes closed, yet Dolly couldn't help but stare at them anyway as she quietly crept over to his side and stared at him.

There was so many things she wanted to say to him that not even a simple 'hello' would suffice. All those years in the labs, she never thought she'd ever see him again but she never forgot about him either and she always wondered what became of him.

The ape who laid in front of her was Milo.

* * *

The radio was really just a bunch of hand radios all spread out and connected to this one computer. It kinda looked like a mess of electronics on the desk table it all sat on. It looked simple, but it had to have taken Dreyfus and his followers years to find the parts and put them together _and_ to get it all to work.

"It all came from the Police Department," Dreyfus explained. "The computer was one of those computers that connected to other electronic devices and could locate them."

"You think it could find the chips?" Asked Malcolm.

"Possibly." Werner was looking through a thick book that must have been the computer's manual. "We had to take some of its insides out to make it work as a radio, but I think if we found the right parts and modified the radios, it could those chips."

Finney grabbed the book from him and flipped through it. He then bent down to one of the machines underneath the desk, unscrewed the side and opened it up. "Yup." He showed them the page he was looking at, which showed a picture of the machine all opened up and it's insides showing.

"We're missing this." It was one of those green things. Caesar recognized it, but didn't know what it was called. "We may also have to do some rewiring and get some satellite dishes to make the connection stronger." Said Finney.

"Ok, so the computer needs some fixing. No biggie, we can do that." Said Foster in an attempt to be optimistic.

"How are you going to do that?" The voice belonged to Aaron, one of Dreyfus' followers. He had to be the one Tori despised the most. Werner and Finney were fine, they were just two nerds who were too dumb to see Dreyfus' flaws. But Aaron always looked like he knew more than he'd let on. "In fact, how are you guys doing anything? You're literally just a group that consists of a former nurse, a former architect, a mayor, a pink-headed runaway, a dam worker, a goofball and a bunch of monkeys."

Really? More of this 'monkey' talk? Caesar rolled his eyes at him, not impressed with the human at all. Despite Aaron's words, he was scrawny. Clearly, one of the humans who ate very little. He had a handgun attached to his belt, but it looked bigger than his hand. Like it was a hand-me-down from someone much stronger than he was. That gun was the only thing threatening about him. The only reason Luca kept his eyes locked on him and Maurice, Caesar, Rocket, Stone, and Koba stayed close to the other humans but kept a distance from him.

"Aaron, how many times do I have to tell you?" Asked Werner. "If they have tails, they're monkeys. If they don't, they're apes. Do they look like they have tails to you?"

"Oh, why do you care anyway?"

"Guys!"

That worked, the two humans looked at Dreyfus.

"We really need to get this working. If we do, we could find the base and maybe stop those Alpha-Omegas from killing all of us." Relief wasn't enough to describe how nice it was to finally hear Dreyfus talking like that.

"Let me see that book." Said Tori to Finney. After he handed it to her, she carefully looked at the picture. The green thing was rectangle shaped with what looked like 340A imprinted on its side. She frowned at it. "I can probably find that in the junkyard. There's lots of computer stuff there."

"Ok, then you go out there and see what you can find." Said Dreyfus, though he didn't like the sound of the junkyard. "Take the book with you."

"Rocket, Koba, Stone." Caesar looked at the three of them. "Go with her."

"I'll go too." Ellie volunteered. "I don't want anyone getting tetanus."

"Ok." Malcolm looked at Caesar. "You and Maurice and Luca want to go back to the file room with Foster and I to look at more files?"

"Yes." Said Caesar, followed by nods from Maurice and Luca.

"Kempt and I will stay with Werner and Finney and see what else we can do with the computer." Said Dreyfus.

"What about the others? Ash, Blue Eyes, and Derek?" Asked Ellie.

Caesar and Rocket exchanged glances. Ash was obviously too traumatized to be here and only time will tell just how much all this has already affected Blue Eyes. Both of them have been through so much, yet they are only teenagers. Still children. "Ash and Blue Eyes stay in infirmary." Caesar turned to look back at the humans. "Their mothers are there. They can take break."

"Best if they do anyway." Said Rocket.

"Alright, fine. Then where the hell is Derek?" And there's the annoyance back in Dreyfus' voice. However, it wasn't directed at the apes this time. It was at Derek.

"I'll go look for him." Said Aaron. As he walked out he called: "You guys just do whatever Human-Ape Councils do."

Everyone watched as he left, surprised by his comment. "Did he just call us a 'Human-Ape Council'?" Asked Dreyfus.

"Isn't that kind of what you guys are now?" Asked Finney as he got under the desk to open more machines up.

The group looked at each other. They never thought of it that way. Caesar, Maurice, Koba, Rocket, Stone, Grey, Luca, Blue Eyes and Ash were the Ape Council, but the humans didn't appear to have a 'human council', just Dreyfus. Yet somehow, him and Malcolm, Ellie, Foster, Kempt, Derek, and Tori became something like a council _and_ since have been working together…

"…I think I like the sound of that." Said Malcolm.

Caesar hadn't had any reason to smile since the unity celebration, but this made him happy. "So do I." He said as new hope filled him.

 _Maybe when all this is over, there will be peace between humans and apes._

* * *

Derek didn't mean to go home, but he found himself in the doorway of his bedroom anyway. He didn't care. A bedroom was much more than just a place one's bed was placed, he learned that years ago. A bedroom offers a safe, anxiety and stress-free, haven. A place where one can unwind, sit, lay down, relax, reflect, breathe and be alone with simply closing the door behind them. This may not be the bedroom that Derek grew up sleeping and playing in, but it gave him the same clarity as if it were.

He stood at the entrance even after closing the door behind him. Letting the air fill his lungs as he inhaled slowly and let it out in a long sigh. _What happened, Derek?_ He asked himself. _You were just fine when you woke up this morning. You've been able to control your emotions so well up until now. What changed?_

Derek walked over to his bed and sat down, pinching the bridge of his nose as he did. _What happened?_ How could he have been so calm whenever they found a dead body (minus Hazell's child), or when they found the children in the streets, or when Caesar, Dolly, Ash, and Alex reappeared or while Dreyfus was trying to kick the apes out of the city and Koba had tried to commit suicide in jail but now couldn't because of a few videos? He'd seen worse things, most of which didn't have to be recorded for him to know their brutality, but he felt as if the videos had cracked the armor that he'd covered himself in since the moment he became an FBI profiler.

 _I know them._ His mind screamed. He may not have met Lake, or Red and Winter, but he knew Caesar and Ash and Dolly. Even if just for a few days, he had met them and knew who they were. He still had no way of knowing if their abductions were planned, or by chance but if it wasn't, then Blue Eyes, Cornelia, Rocket, Tinker, Koba, Maurice and all the other apes in the colony could have ended up in that base.

Shit! He should not have done that! Now images of them appeared in his mind as Derek, unintentionally, imagined the apes in the base. Either being enslaved, or tortured until death showed them mercy ends it all. Whether they surrendered or not.

…They were his friends, his allies…And their lives, their very existence, was in grave danger…

With trembling hands, Derek picked up the picture frame that sat on his nightstand. He had many pictures. Souvenirs. Reminders of his past and of who he had been. But this picture was his most treasured possession. It was the one thing from his childhood that he still had. A piece of himself, untouched by time. The picture itself was old and slightly torn, and it was in black and white, but it meant everything to him…

…It was all he had left…Of his first, and only, friend…His _best_ friend…

The peace was shattered when he heard a very small and light crack coming from his closet. He looked up from the door across from him, half expecting it to be a mouse or something. Another sound, this time a light thud.

He frowned. _That doesn't sound like a mouse._

Hands suddenly grabbed him from behind. Derek struggled, but whoever the assailant was, was stronger and faster than he was. He heard the closet door open and realized there was another one.

He felt a sharp pinch of a needle as they overpowered him...The last thing Derek was aware of was the frame falling from his grasp and hitting the floor.

* * *

 **A/N'S: *Containing my exitment*...You guys are gonna have so much fin in the next chapters...! :D If anyone has(or is) read/ing Revelations, you'd probably know/remember Aaron. I guess this'll be the perfect way to announce that I now have the book and am currently reading it. Yippee! More characters for me to exaggerate! XD**

 **Let's just say Rose is the 'Rapunzel' of the story-though she doesn't have long hair! XD I'm actually a little nervous about her being called a Mary-Sue, but not really because her role is largely based off of a theory/idea of the Simian Flu and how it affects apes (which is actually really important!) AND! May I add her name is LITERALLY my middle name?! I don't think the name 'Rose' is THAT uncommon!**

 **Preacher's flashback was basically about how he and Hazell met (crap, they're becoming the Disney's 'Pocahontas and John Smith' of the story!). And yes, I gave Preacher a little background. Reason, why I chose to make his past like that, is because of his name. Assuming that 'Preacher' is his last name, and if I'm right, that would mean that either his family had a religious or he had religious relatives. His mother's attitude is completely inspired by the 'Simian Flu being a holy curse/impurification cleanser' talk from Firestorm. I hope that doesn't offend anyone!**

 **I'm planning to do another one of Dolly's so expect to see a lot of flashbacks. X3 Oh LOL, and Dolly is now reunited with Milo!...Sorta!**

 **Caesar, Caesar, Pumpkin-eater...Poor guy is having some issues...He's kind of a ticking time bomb...0_0...Speaking of Caesar, the more I write this fanfic, the more like him Hazell is beginning to look (which Lake has figured out before I did! XD) while Rowena and Cortez are like Maurice and Luca (or Buck). X3**

 **I'm not even sure if most of this chip, radio and computer logic in the story is accurate. Buuut, it is fiction so I guess I can play with it a little bit. XD**

 **And Derek and his 'visitors'...I sincerely hope you guys like Derek, cause he's gonna have a major impact on the story!**

 **Ok, so here's my surprise! XD I don't even know if this is ok or not (I think it is considering I'm not actually going to post any links in this chapter but if not tell me!) but I think I'm beginning to come up with theme songs for the characters (both OC and Canon) in the story! XD Does anyone ever have that happen to them? You're writing up your fanfic and you realize you know a song that reminds you of one or more of the characters? XD**

 **I don't have a whole lot yet, so I'll just share what I have so far:**

 **Pope - Iris (The Goo Goo Dolls)**

 **Winter - Cool Kids (Echosmith)**

 **Malcolm - Something Wild (Lindsey Stirling)**

 **Koba - My Demons (Starset)**

 **Rose - Tag, You're It (Melanie Martinez-although Dollhouse also reminds me of her too!)**

 **John - Ain't it Fun? (Paramore)**

 **Dolly - Run (P!nk-Lonely Girl suits her too, though!)**

 **Dreyfus - It's My Life (Bon Jovi)**

 **Derek - Leave out All the Rest (Linken Park)**

 **Lake - Girl On Fire (Alicia Keys)**

 **Caroline(known as Elaine in some chapters!) - Reflection (Christina Aguilera)**

 **Maurice - I Won't Let Go (Rascal Flatts)**

 **Carlos - Hangover (Taio Cruz-I wouldn't call this a theme song, but it is the song that inspired his creation so...I guess?)**

 **All these songs can be found on Youtube. If you know these songs/listen to them, please tell me what you think! XD I can't find anything in the rules that say I can't list theme songs AFTER a regular fanfic chapter so I'll just assume it's ok and if not, then I'll post it on DeviantArt.**

 **I don't have anything else to say here, so I guess I'm done. XD**

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


	14. Secrets of The Files

**A's/N: Wow, this one is actually shorter than the last chapters. XD Haven't had that in a while!**

 **I don't really have much to say this time, so enjoy the chapter I guess! ;D**

* * *

The junkyard was exactly what it sounded like: A yard full of junk. It was piles worth of miscellaneous house appliances, long forgotten children's toys, pieces of trash, used and shattered bottles, stray pieces of glass and old, rusted and broken cars, bikes, boats and parts of whatever was left of them. It reminded Ellie of the TV shows about hoarder houses she used to watch. This place looked like someone's enlarged lost and found.

"This may take a while." Said Tori as she began digging around in a small pile. Her eyes darkened with focus.

Ellie eyed the many larger piles of rubble. "Be careful guys, it's easy to get hurt around here." This would be why she volunteered to come with them. The vehicles themselves looked as though they could crush them if they fell and there was so much debris that it was impossible to say just what else could be lurking underneath it. She pushed the thought away as she began searching for computers, or anything resembling the green thing.

Rocket, Stone, and Koba just looked around at their new surroundings, both amazed and frightened by how much the junkyard actually contained. No wonder Ellie was worried, everything here seemed sharp and pointy. It was unlikely anything here could kill them, but it defiantly wasn't the sort of place one would want to stick around in for very long either.

 _"_ _Stay close."_ Signed Rocket to the other two apes. Maybe Tori had been here before, but Rocket didn't want Koba or Stone wandering around this place by themselves.

The group mostly searched in silence. Occasionally, the sound of rust grinding against another rusted object broke the quiet, but nothing fell or moved from its pile. There wasn't anything creepy about this place, but it felt haunted by the stuff itself. As if each item contained a memory of its origin and was replaying themselves in their hollow and broken shells.

 _"_ _Do you recognize anything?"_ Stone asked as Koba pulled something out of a smaller pile. A wheel from a bike, it's web-like structure broken and bent. Like it had been torn apart somehow.

 _"_ _Some of them."_ It was hard to tell, but there were a few things that Koba vaguely remembered seeing at Tommy's house. A box that he now knew to be a TV, a couch with its springs and stuffing falling out, a yellowed pillowcase, a white flower-like object with a bent stem that water would come out of, a faded and dirty rug. He wondered if anything from Tommy's house had found their way here, but doubted it considering that Tori had found his old plush kitten there even after so many years had passed since he himself had been there.

Stone shoved a broken piece of a car door out the way as he dug deeper into the pile he was looking through. As dangerous as the rubble looked, he found himself feeling curious and fascinated by them at the same time. Koba just liked picking up pieces of them and looking at them and putting them back down. Looking through them gave his mind time to think and reflect. Being careful forced him to focus on something more pressing than any inner-turmoil he was feeling.

Stone poked him and asked. _"No more schemes?"_

Koba knew what he meant. _"No more."_ He confirmed. Any schemes he had to try and kill off the humans were gone. His drive to kill long forgotten. Stone looked concern.

 _"_ _Are you ok now?"_ Stone didn't get a chance to ask before, but he really was worried for his friend.

The scarred bonobo shrugged. Koba didn't miss his old self, but there was some parts he wished he still had. His past thinking made sense: Caesar is wrong and he is right. Humans are bad and apes are good. Dolly is his sister and all his other relatives don't exist. Humans abuse apes and neither like each other. Parents don't abuse their children and family stick together. Now nothing makes sense and the changes keep happening faster than Koba could comprehend them. He wished time would stop so that he could ease into it all.

 _"_ _I don't want to kill myself anymore if that's what you're asking."_ Koba assumed that was what Stone was referring to.

That reassured Stone. _"Good...And you know that if you ever need someone to talk to, you have me. And Maurice, and Rocket, and Luca, and all the others."_ He smiled at the scarred bonobo. _"We're all here for you, Koba."_

Koba bit his lip to keep it from quivering. Stone's words really touched him, confirming something he should have known all along. He _wasn't_ alone. Even if he felt like he was, his friends were right there with him. Just as much as Dolly was.

Suddenly, someone squealed and something crashed. The chimp and bonobo jumped at the sudden noises and their heads glanced all around, searching for the source.

"What happened?!" Ellie called from a distance. She and Tori appeared a second later.

There was another sound. A barely audible croak. "Iiiii….El….Mo." The group of four followed the sound around a corner and found Rocket standing there. The near-bald chimpanzee was staring at something on the ground as he pressed on it with his foot.

"Rocket?" From here, Koba couldn't tell what the chimpanzee was looking at but he didn't seem wounded.

Rocket glanced at them then picked up whatever it was he that had startled him. "What. This?" He asked.

The thing he held up was gross looking! It's once red fur was now caked with wet and dry mud and had holes in its body. Its limbs were loose and hung in a grotesque manner. It's big, white and black pupil eyes were dusted with dirt and one was, in fact, falling from where it should have been. Its mouth hung open in a fake, half broken smile, revealing black insides and a dirty, fake tongue. When Rocket squeezed its body, it made another sound:

"Huuhh…Ahhhh…Ahhhk…Wah…Lay…I…ov…u…"

Stone and Koba glanced at each other. They had never seen a human thing like this one before and it creeped them out almost as much as it disgusted them.

Tori tilted her head to the side, trying to put a name to the weird thing. Then shrugged. "I think it's just an old Elmo doll."

Stone burst out laughing. "Rocket. Scared. Of doll?!"

Koba didn't think it was that funny, but smiled at the thought of a tough chimp like Rocket being frightened of a human toy.

Rocket frowned at the two other apes. To Tori and Ellie, he asked: "Dangerous?" He eyed at the doll corpse. It had to be the most ugliest human toy he had ever seen.

"Not unless you open it up." Said Tori. "There could be roaches or something equally foul living in there."

That sounded worse than the doll itself. Disgusted, Rocket threw the thing far away. The group heard it land on something hard, and suddenly car alarms went off which echoed in the otherwise silent junkyard.

"It loud now!" Stone yelped as he covered his ears with his hands. Koba nearly jumped at the sudden noises himself.

"Consider yourself lucky it was just an old toy." Ellie added as she glanced in the direction Rocket had thrown the Elmo doll. "This place is full of dangerous objects. The old vehicles themselves could kill you if they fall on you."

"Survived many attacks." It was hard to tell if he was annoyed at Ellie's words or at the noises. Probably both. "Don't die easy."

"You guys keep looking, I'll go see if I can make that thing shut up." Said Tori over the noises. She sped off in the direction of the car alarms before anyone could stop her.

"Be careful!" Ellie called after her. She sighed when she didn't get a reply back. "Koba, go with her." She said as she turned back to the apes.

Koba obeyed and darted off to where Tori went. He wasn't sure but it seemed as though Ellie was upset about something. Was it the junkyard itself? Sure the place wasn't pleasant, but that couldn't be too troubling, right?..Maybe it was the many broken treasures that littered the ground that was making her worried.

He thought he could see Tori by her pink hair and picked up the pace. However, what he saw next made him stop in his tracks.

* * *

Dot stayed standing in front of the window even after Bon and Rex had left hours before. To where they went, Pope didn't know and didn't really care. Rex can take care of himself and Bon can talk his way out of just about anything. They didn't need him worrying about them. Dot, however, did.

She stood so still that Pope couldn't help but stare at her. Wondering what she was thinking about as the glass reflected her faraway gaze. It was only when she finally pealed her eyes away from the glass and walked back to where Pope was that she said anything all day.

 _"_ _Do you ever go outside?"_

Had the question not come from Dot, Pope probably would have laughed. He had slept, hunted and spent so much time outside that the rooms inside the buildings of the city seemed small and empty to him. _"All the time. My colony and I live outside"_

The sadness in Dot's eyes flickered for just a moment in surprise. _"But there's humans everywhere."_

 _"_ _Not in the forest."_

 _"_ _You live in the forest?!"_

 _"_ _Yes."_

There was real amazement in Dot's face. She glanced at the window before looking back at him. _"Why did you come back then?"_ She asked. _"If you were all free then why would you ever want to come back here?"_

Pope was beginning to realize that Dot may not have ever been to a forest before. In fact, she probably had never tasted freedom in her entire life. She definitely wasn't a lab ape, so she most likely would have come from a zoo or an ape shelter like most of the apes did. Her question was one Pope was secretly asking himself. Part of him wanted to blame Caesar, but how could the Ape King order the colony back to the very city he freed them from so many years ago when he himself wasn't even around to do so? It had to been someone else, but regardless they were all here.

 _"_ _If it were up to me, and if that colonel didn't exist, I'd never come back here again."_ Pope wondered if other apes felt the same way. He knew for sure Koba and Dolly did. _"I guess there was no other option for the colony."_

Dot nodded her head, glancing back at the window again. It was as if she were trying to decide to return to the glass surface or continue the conversation. Pope wouldn't have minded which ever she chose, but he liked talking to her. He felt comfortable around her like that.

 _"_ _What's it like out there? Living without cages, or walls."_ She asked, looking back at him.

Pope had to think about the question for a moment. Before he was freed, cages were all the scarred chimpanzee knew. He had grown up behind their bars, ate and slept in their darkness, and, far too many times, had screamed and cried in pain in their emptiness. The cages were always small, big enough for him to live in but never big enough to call home, and he was always alone in them. He vaguely remembered having blankets and a toy or two while inside some of them, but none of them cured his loneliness or could protect him from the humans who used to come and take him to hurt him.

He had to stop thinking about his past. Pope feared that if he didn't, he'd explode and he didn't want to in front of Dot. _"It's amazing."_ Was all he could say. He didn't want to be in this room anymore. Heck, he didn't want to spend another second in this room!

So when Dot asked if they could go outside, he gladly agreed.

* * *

Just like Ellie had suspected, just about all the apes in the colony had chip implants. The only ones who didn't appeared to be Caesar himself and all the apes born after the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge. It still angered Caesar that his people had been subjected to this, but he now understood how they could help them and felt an odd sense of relief about it.

"What are we gonna do with all these anyway?" Asked Foster as he added another document to the growing pile.

"I was hoping we could add them into that computer, if we can get it working, so that if anyone else gets kidnapped or get lost, we could locate them." It seemed like a good idea to Malcolm. It certainly could help protect the apes.

Caesar was zoning out again. His head was beginning to hurt so he rubbed it to try and relieve the pressure but it felt like the beats from his heart were now in his head rather than in his chest. He kept his eyes straight ahead, at the wall. If he looked down at the pictures of his fellow apes before he had freed them, he felt like he'd lose it and he already felt like a boat on shaky water already.

It was Maurice who noticed this. _"Caesar?"_ He successfully got his king's attention with a gentle shoulder tap. _"You seem lost. Is something wrong?"_

Caesar shook his head. _"No, I'm fine Maurice."_ The lie was complete with a small smile. The truth was Caesar didn't know what was wrong. He felt as if all he could feel was anger and then sadness and then worry, then back to anger. As if all other emotion had been sucked out of him. Worse of all, he felt annoyed at the very thought of opening up and telling someone about these feelings even though he knew he probably should.

Maurice eyes Caesar's face for a bit. Suspicion shining in his eyes. He obviously wasn't buying the white lie but only nodded and went back to looking at files. Choosing to keep any doubts he had about the Ape King secret. Caesar felt relief for that.

The sudden sound of papers falling offered Caesar a chance to escape his thoughts for just a moment…Or so he thought.

The papers that fell turned out to be a stack of unread files that simply spilled over on themselves. Thankfully, none of the papers appeared to have fallen out. Except for one of them, but it was only a stray document. Luca picked it up and was about to put it back in it's manila-colored folder when he saw the picture inside of it. His eyes widened and he handed the file to Malcolm who opened it up curiously.

"What is it-" His voice cut off. The picture was of an ape that Malcolm now knew as Pope, the one that they encountered after finding Hazell's body. The picture was taken of him at Gen-Sys, after he was given the virus. His golden eyes held this intense, hateful glare at the camera. No doubt intended for the unfortunate cameraman who had taken the photo.

"How did we miss this one?" Asked Foster, looking at the picture from over Malcolm's shoulder.

"I guess it got misplaced." Said Malcolm with a shrug. He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. There were so many files in the building, all of containing information about apes, humans, long abandoned businesses, and everything else in-between, that any one of them could be out of place in a matter of seconds. "What fell out of it?"

Luca still had the document. He handed it to the human, curious about what it could be.

Malcolm wasn't intending to read the paper. He was just going to put it back in the file but the words on the white sheet jumped out at him. He was mortified.

 ** _Animal Euthanasia Request Form _**

"What the hell?!" He said unconsciously while skimming through it.

"What it say?" Asked Caesar. Maybe this wasn't a good distraction from his feelings after all.

The document was exactly what it looked like: A request to euthanize an animal-in this case, Pope. Not reading it out loud, it said:

 ** _Requested By:_** _Steven Jacobs Gen-Sys CEO_

 ** _Name of Animal:_** _Pope_

 ** _Species of Animal:_** _Chimpanzee_

 ** _Gender of Animal:_** _Male_

 ** _Age of Animal:_** _9_

 ** _Reason for Euthanasia(?):_** _This animal has had too many failed experiments performed on it. As CEO, I require room for more, fresh apes to be used for research and testing and this animal is taking up too much space. For those reasons, I request to have this animal put down immediately._

 ** _Requested Date for Euthanasia:_** _April 5th, 2016 at 10:00 AM_

 ** _Requester's Signature:_** _Steven Jacobs Gen-Sys CEO_

Malcom stared at the paper in mute shock. This wasn't just a request form. This was a contract of death. Jacobs didn't even sound the least bit sympathetic in his request. His words came were heartless and cruel. Motivated by greed and his own selfish desires.

His voice shook when he finally found it. "P-Pope…Pope was supposed to die.." He put the document on the table for all to see. "Steven Jacobs wanted him euthanized."

"What?!" Foster re-read the paper, out loud so the apes could hear.

Anger returned to Caesar, but he let it. He may not have liked Pope, but he never wished any harm or death to the scarred chimpanzee and if Jacobs could have asked other humans to kill him, he could have just as easily have done the same to countless others and most of those apes most likely never had a chance…Then realization sunk in.

"Pope still alive when I free him." Caesar remembered that day as if it were yesterday. He remembered that scarred chimp walking out of his cage. He was alive that day. Not euthanized. Not dead. "Jacobs. Not kill him."

Caesar was right. The date listed on the form that would have been Pope's last day was one that Malcolm remembered fondly. It just so happened to be the very same day that he and his first wife, Rita, had decided to take Alexander to Disneyland instead of school. It was the last normal thing they did as a family before the virus. But! that very date was also just weeks before the outbreak started! A good three weeks in fact!

"Jacobs wanted him dead. So why wasn't Pope euthanized like he was scheduled to?" This didn't make sense to Malcolm.

Maurice and Luca glanced at each other. Neither of them knew what to make of this confusing finding any more than their king and human friends. Maurice was about to sign something but then noticed a document sticking out of one the other files-it was Dolly's. He pulled it out just as Luca found one in Koba's.

"Maybe Jacobs forgot?" Offered Foster. "Or maybe he just decided to cancel it?"

"Why would he do that if he was so desperate to get it done?"

"Stamp?" Caesar knew the word well. What he saw on the paper had to have been that. The only stamps the chimp had seen were the play stamps Will and Charles used to give him to make art with-some that were animal shaped sponges that he could paint on and press into paper and some regular stamps but with fun shapes and colors. This one was much different. Both of them were.

Foster and Malcolm looked at what Caesar was pointing at. Both were surprised when they saw them. Right next to Jacobs' signature, there was a line that must have been reserved for the superiors approval. There two stamps on the line. The first one was green and said **APPROVED** but right on top of it, the second stamp read **CANCELED** in bold black letters.

"…They canceled it.." Malcolm concluded. Unsure if he should feel relief or confused. "..They were going to euthanize him but…They decided not to?"

"So maybe he _did_ cancel it." Said Foster with a shrug. "It happens."

"I don't think so." Malcolm looked at his friend. "From what we already know, Jacobs doesn't sound like the kind of guy to give second chances. Especially to apes in his lab."

"No human. Back then. Would." Caesar had realized this fact years ago. He had been lucky to have been raised and loved by Will and Charles and then by Caroline, but he was the only ape in his colony who have had that luxury. He didn't know of any humans that were like them who lived back then.

Luca growled at something and Maurice made a rumbling sound in his throat, startling the two humans and single chimpanzee. "Another one?" Asked Foster.

Maurice handed him the documents. His features frowning at the discovery.

Sure enough, the two documents in front of them were the same as the first one. Two more Animal Euthanasia forms that were requested by Steven Jacobs and bore the same approved and canceled stamps. The only difference was that one of the documents had Pope's name on it, while the second had Koba's and the last one had Dolly's.

"No way…" Malcolm breathed when he read the two papers. "Jacobs wanted to euthanize _all_ three of them?"

"That guy had some issues." Said Foster as he crossed his arms. "A lot of issues."

Something on one of the documents caught Caesar's eye. "What's that?" He asked as he touched it-a staple. It's metal arms cutting through the paper and curling up the other side as if to give it a hug.

Malcolm flipped Dolly's page over, revealing something none of them expected to find. It became more shocking as he read it out loud. The paper was complete by signatures on the bottom. One belonged to the judge, the second belonged to lawyer or representative of some kind, but the third confused them the most.

 ** _Aida Jacobs_**

* * *

Tori was frozen as she stared at the car. The Elmo doll had broken right through the front of the window-which despite being old and dusty, was still in place. The car in general was still in one piece. Even though it had obviously been here for years, ever since _his_ death. It wasn't completely surprising that her father's car had made its way here, but it was hard to say how. Maybe her mother had sent it here. Even though she could have kept it and given it to her when she was old enough to drive it-though Tori knew she wouldn't have wanted it. Even if it could have been her first vehicle.

She heard Koba coming but didn't bother to look at him. Despite how much she wanted to, Tori found that she couldn't rip her eyes off of the cursed car.

At first, Koba couldn't tell why Tori was staring at the car like that. It was just another vehicle, with its once dark colored body now covered in dust and it's windows blinded by grime. It didn't look much different from the many other cars that lived in the junkyard.

It wasn't until he noticed the faded sticker in the front window. It was grainy from the dust, and years have whitened it up somewhat. But Koba could almost clearly see Jacobs' face on the sticker.

"…Tori…" He breathed, now understanding what this car meant…And _who_ it used to belong to.

The blazing screech of the cars alarms seemed far away. In fact, Tori almost couldn't hear them. She stood very still as she stared at the front window. At the two front seats, almost picturing her father, with his stupid suit and ugly smirk, in the driver's seat while her mother sat quietly with a blank face in the passenger side and with her anxious-self in the backseat.

For years, that bastard had treated both her and her mother like shit. For years, he used them as his punching bags to the point of sending them both to the emergency room. All she ever knew from her father was hate and fear. He didn't deserve to be her father any more than he deserved to be her mother's husband.

Tori's breathing began to change, but she didn't notice.

He was supposed to love her! And yet, he never once said he did! Did he _ever_ love her?! Didn't he care about his daughter, his only child?!

 _"_ _If you die today…I won't miss you."_

Those words. The very last words her father had ever said to her, came rushing back. Suddenly, all noises became silent. Tori barely felt her hands grab whatever heavy objects closest to her. Everything moved too fast for her to see them crash and break the abandoned car. In her mind, she could see flashes of her father. The car _became_ her father. He may have died, but she never got to destroy him.

Koba stayed where he was. He could only watch in mute shock at Tori's rage. She threw rocks, old TV's, and several objects he couldn't identify. Each one hit harder than the last. Some even broke through the car's body and got inside of it. It was as if all the hurt and all the anger she carried since childhood had suddenly let itself out. Exploded. Erupted. Broke out of her with every object that hit, cracked and dented its target. All the while, Koba kept looking at her face.

This was the face that he had once hated and mixed up with Jacobs'. The very face that stayed with him in his cell back at the jail and helped pull him out of the darkness he had trapped himself in…Tori now showed a different side to her…A side that Koba had only caught a glimpse of when they talked on the beach…

The pink haired human didn't stop throwing things at it until she was out of breath. By now, the car had gone silent. It's alarm dead. Tori stared at it as tears welled up in her eyes. She destroyed it. Killed it. This car was the only thing left of him and now, it's just another forgotten and ruined piece of garbage.

She inhaled and exhaled slowly, shakily. Her tears fought their way out of her eyes and leaked out on her face as she fell to the ground. Her body shaking from the memories. Tori felt empty inside. As if something that had once filled her was now gone. She brought her hands to her face and allowed the sob to escape. She hadn't thought about her mother in years but now she needed her and wanted her to hold her again. It felt like her mother had died all over again.

Tori gasped when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She looked up, and found Koba looking back at her.

Koba knew they were both vulnerable deep down, but he had never seen hers until now. It felt like Tori's ran deeper than his however. Jacobs tortured him in the labs as an experiment, but he was her father. Jacobs was supposed to love her and protect her, yet he did the opposite. Koba himself had only known his own father for a short time, but he already loved and trusted the older bonobo like any child would who in turn, loved him back. It was something Tori didn't have, even though she had had her father in her life longer than he had.

His green and milky eyes watched her tears as they formed in her brown eyes and stained her face as they ran down. Koba had shown her his vulnerable side before. Now, he was seeing hers.

He gently wrapped his long arms around her and Tori immediately wrapped her own around him. Tori was normally taller than him by a few inches but with her on her knees, her head went up to his chest which she buried her face into.

Koba stroked her head as she cried on him. Her pink hair felt soft against his gray skin as he ran his fingers through it.

"That day…" Tori sniffled. "…He said he…Wouldn't miss me if I died…" She shivered at the memory. "…I…I don't…Know if he knew or…Or how he would have known…"

Shock stabbed Koba. Then anger. Only now did he realize that there was a difference to being a father and to being a dad: A father can be someone who is biologically related to their child, but a _dad_ is someone who is much more than just a blood relative to their children. The apes tend to call their fathers just 'father', but even they knew this.

He hugged her tighter. "… _Koba_ would have missed you…"

Tori let out a little laugh. "You didn't even know me back then, you furball."

Koba smiled. He didn't mind being called that by Tori. She playfully called him all sorts of things: Smiles, fur ball-sometimes leapfrog, if he lunged or jumped at anything. Tori was the only human who could get away with calling him any of these things.

"Exactly. Never would have met you. Never would have _known_ you. That how Koba would have missed you." He meant what he said. Koba was sure that if Tori had truly killed herself that day and he never knew her, his demons would have taken over him. Even if the Alpha-Omegas kidnapped Caesar before he could kill him.

Tori looked up at him. Her eyes were still wet, but she was smiling now. "…You know, for an ape that almost started a war, you're really sweet on the inside."

Just then, a blur of brown fur suddenly tackled them. Tori rolled back just in time but Koba wasn't fast enough. She looked up to see their attacker-her eyes widened.

Brown fur, fishnet scars, golden eyes…She realized it was Pope, one of the apes that escaped the base. She hadn't seen him since they first encounter him in the forest. Now, the muscular chimp was on top of Koba, beating him with his arms and fists.

 **"** **You stupid ape! What you doing with human?! She ENEMY!"**

Pope was yelling so loudly and punching him in the face so hard that Koba could barely get a word out. His only defense was covering his face with his hands. "N-Not! Tori!" He managed to yell out.

 **"** **You! Surrender to humans?!"** Pope's eyes were so darkened by his rage that they were almost bronze colored. **"They DAMAGE you! Kill your mother! Blinded you!-"**

Pope's ranting gave Tori a chance to run up behind him ad tackle him herself. She managed to get her arms around his neck in a chokehold, but Pope was far too strong for her and much too powerful. He grabbed her arms, ripped them off of him and practically threw her off as if she weighed nothing at all.

Luckily, Tori landed on an old mattress. She wasn't wounded, but her arms hurt bad and were already beginning to bruise. She knew then there was nothing she could do. Even if she did manage to get Pope to stop beating Koba, he had more muscle on his arms than she had on her entire body. She may have fought Koba before, but this was a _chimp_ and a bigger ape than the bonobo. He could easily rip her arms off…Or worse, kill her.

"Rocket!" She resorted to calling out for the others. Maybe they could stop this. "Rocket! Stone! Ellie!"

 **"** **Koba! Weak! Koba! Stupid! KOBA! TRAITOR! TO APES!"**

"POPE!"

It was as if someone clicked a pause button. Pope suddenly stopped, mid punch. His eyes changed, the dark look going away. The three turned and looked at the direction where the voice came from.

Dot. Her silvery eyes were on Pope and were wide with shock as her frail body shook, possibly from seeing the male chimp's rage.

"…L-Let…Him…Go…" She said in a pleading voice.

Pope dropped his fist. He gave one last glare at Koba before getting off of the scarred bonobo and walked away. Dot glanced at the two of them before following after the male chimp. Only now did Tori and Koba realize how close they were to the city. Pope and Dot had come from an alleyway between two buildings.

"What was that about?" Ellie asked. She and the other two apes had came when no one was looking. In fact, Rocket and Stone were just about to pounce on the fishnet scarred chimp when Dot cried out.

"…Bad fight.." It was all Tori could say about what just happened. She went back to where Koba was. The scarred bonobo had bruises all over his face and had blood smeared on his face but he didn't seem too badly hurt. "Koba?.."

Koba got to his feet, rubbing the side of his face. He dried his bleeding nose on his wrist, eyes looking back at where Pope had left.

 _Why Pope?_ He asked in his mind. _I thought you were my friend._

* * *

Pope had never felt so much anger. It was as though his body had been taken over by the wind itself and was now out of his control. He felt cold all over.

"Pope!" He stopped the second he heard her. He turned to face the female chimp who now looked at him with fear. _Great, now she knows what I am._ He thought to himself. Dot wasn't supposed to see that but she had and now she'll never be his follower…She may not even want to be around him anymore.

 _"_ _Why did you do that? Who were they?"_

 _"_ _The bonobo was Koba."_ Pope was still disgusted with him. Just signing his name angered him. _"I think the human was called Tori."_ This, he only knew from apes who had seen or heard the Ape Council and the humans call her that.

 _"_ _Why did you attack them?"_ Dot asked again. _"They weren't doing anything."_

 _"_ _You don't understand."_ Pope was trying not to let his anger show again, but he felt like he was on the brink of letting it go again. _"Koba was a lab ape, like me. He and his sister would know, of all apes, that humans are bad and can't be trusted!"_

 _"_ _She wasn't hurting him."_ She was afraid. This anger was new to her, especially coming from Pope. The very chimp that took her out of the base. _"If you saw her as a threat, why did you attack Koba and not her?"_

 **"** **HE! SHOWED! WEAKNESS!"** Pope bellowed so loudly that even the buildings they stood next to seemed to flinch. Dot took several steps back, seemingly frightened by his outburst.

Pope slowed his breathing. He had never cared if others feared him, but he did not want to see it in her. He sighed. "Never…Show. Weakness." He said in a calmer voice.

Dot looked at him funny. _"Weakness?"_

"Weakness." Pope repeated. "Crying. Show fear. Sensitivity. Giving up." He focused his glare at the ground. "Weakness."

Dot just stared at him. She had never asked Pope about his scars, but now she wondered how he got them. _"What happened to you?"_ She signed.

"What?" Her question caught him off guard.

The familiar pain of tears building in her eyes returned like magic. _"Pope…I cry for my husband and for my son everyday…I've cried for them for years…I gave up all hope the second they breathed their last breaths…The only thing I ever hoped for in that base was that the soldiers would just kill me and get it over with."_ Dot's vision was now blurred as her tears ran from her eyes. _"Does that make ME weak?"_

Pope stared at her in surprise. Dot? Weak? _No!_ He tried to reason with himself. _Dot was just broken by the humans. There's a difference between being weak and mourning!…Bur how that any different than you?_ Pope immediately blocked the thought from his mind. He was about to say something but Dot asked another question.

 _"_ _Don't you mourn for your parents? Your family?"_

He froze. All feelings leaving him. Pope struggled to find words to say but his mind had gone completely blank.

Dot noticed this blinked her tears away in confusion. _"What's wrong?"_

Before Pope could answer, a human appeared. By his dark skin, graying beard and the clothes he wore, Pope recognized him as Foster.

* * *

The first thing Milo felt was the coldness. It felt as if his face had frozen and became ice. Then he felt the soreness in his mouth and the echo of pain in his head. He winced, but made no noise. He was used to pain, and knew it was better not to express it too much.

"Milo…"

His eyes snapped open. He didn't recognize the voice, but expected it to be a human, possibly a soldier. Maybe even a fellow Donkey. But when he looked up, he saw her instead and paused.

It had been so long since their days in Tommy's house, and her body had more scars than he remembered, but he knew the eyes of this female bonobo anywhere. Even though they were no longer brown, he recognized them as clear as day.

 _"_ _Dolly."_ His lips formed a smile as he signed her name. _"Is it really you?"_

"Yes!" Dolly couldn't help but smile in pure joy and relief. She carefully scooped him up in a gentle hug, being mindful of the IV that still stuck in his arm. All at once, memories of her and him and Koba playing together flashed before her eyes. Back in their innocent years, when cruelty was being done to them and they were too young to understand it. _"Where were you?"_ She asked when she pulled away. _"What happened to you?"_

Milo was so happy to see her he didn't mind the questions. He had lots of his own as well, but he absolutely hated what had happened to him from the day he las saw her until now. _"It doesn't matter. We're both ok-where's Koba?"_ He suddenly noticed that the other twin wasn't in the room.

Dolly found herself giggling with all the catching up she and Milo would have to do. It would be easy now that he could sign more. _"He's fine. He's part of the council. He and I were freed by Caesar, a chimp. Now we're part of his colony."_

Now Milo was giggling. If he remembered correctly, Koba and Dolly were only two when they all lived at Tommy's while Milo himself was only four. Both of them were playful, but Koba was even more so than his sister. Dolly seemed too worried about her twin brother to really be a child herself. Something Milo understood very well. _"Koba? In a council? What is he in charge of? Plush kittens?"_ He teased playfully, making Dolly hoot-laugh.

 _"_ _You wish!"_ Dolly replied. _"He's actually Caesar's honorary brother and his second-in-command."_

 _"_ _Does that make you his honorary sister?"_

 _"_ _I'm not part of the council, but yes."_

Wow. Milo couldn't believe how much his old playmates had grown. In his mind, he still pictured Dolly and Koba as they were the last time he saw them: Dolly with her blue bow hanging loosely on her head as it hid the recent cut on her forehead and Koba with his own scar running down the left side of his face and his left eye protected by his hand. It was amazing to think that such traumatized and damaged children could grow up into, seemingly, responsible and independent adults. _No._ Milo told himself. _There's more to their story._ Milo knew the face of a hidden mask when he saw it, and Dolly wore it naturally. There was something just beneath the surface.

Dolly knew he was thinking about something but didn't know what. Her eyes wandered to the scars on him. She only recognized the birthmark on his face as it splashed his cheek. The AO mark on his right eyebrow gave a clue to his past.

 _"_ _What happened to you?"_ She asked again, but with more concern this time.

Milo met her gaze. He considered telling her. It couldn't hurt, could it? There weren't any soldiers or Donkeys to stop him from sharing what he knew with an old friend. He obviously wasn't in the base anymore, so he should be perfectly safe. No one will suffer if he told anyone the things he had seen.

But something held him back. Dolly's scars, the ones he didn't recognize, came from somewhere. They were left overs from whatever horrors she had gone through. Hints to how humans have treated her throughout the years. If her body had this much of them, Milo wondered just how many Koba may have.

No. Dolly didn't need to know what he had witnessed. She didn't need to know what monstrosities he had been a part of. She had already been through too much.

 _"_ _Humans just being humans."_ He said instead. _"Like always."_

Dolly's eyes widened at his words. She immediately knew what he was talking about. _"The humans here aren't like Tommy or those humans at all."_ She gestured to his chin. _"One of them was kind enough to fix your mouth."_

Milo didn't believe her at first, until his tongue explored around his mouth. She was right, in the places where teeth had been missing or broken, there were now new ones. They were smaller and different than a chimps regular set, but they were teeth and they fit in his mouth well. He'd finally be able to eat like a normal chimpanzee would again.

His amazement was short-lived. _"Doesn't matter. Even if these humans are good, the bad ones will destroy them all. Then there wouldn't be any good humans left."_

Dolly could only stare at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. The Milo she remembered was quiet, but generous. The only times he ever disobeyed or lashed out at Tommy was if he was provoked or if he was trying to help her and Koba when they needed it. Not just when he stole Tommy's sausages, but other times too. If he had anything to say about Tommy, or humans in general, he never spoke about it.

 _What_ did _happen to you?_ Dolly suddenly felt worried about whatever Milo might be hiding from her.

Footsteps reached their ears, and Milo suddenly jumped and tried to get off of the bed. The instinct to hide came from years of footsteps followed by pain. He didn't know where he'd hide but he suddenly didn't feel safe on the bed he was on.

"Milo!" Dolly's voice startled him "It's ok, no bad humans."

He looked at her, his breathing slowing down. He hoped she was right.

The source of the footprints turned out to be Luca. Milo flinched when he first saw him, but settled when he saw that the gorilla didn't posses the AO mark or the Donkey tattoo.

 _"_ _He's a friend."_ She explained. _"His name is Luca, he's one of the council members and leader of the Gorilla Guard."_

Friend? Milo hadn't met a gorilla who was a _friend_ for years. Even with Dolly's reassurance, Luca still looked dangerous to him. He knew all too well what a gorilla can do when pushed too far. What _any ape_ could do when pushed too far.

Luca replied with just a nod. He didn't have time for introductions. _"Dolly, we need you back in the file room."_

That's new. Normally, she was never called by the council unless it involved Koba somehow. Her stomach filled with worry. _"What happened?"_

 _"_ _We found something."_ Dolly wasn't expecting that. _"Something that you and Koba should know."_

Dolly blinked at him. Her worry replaced with confusion. What was he talking about? And if, whatever it was, was so important, than how could she and Koba not already know it? _At least Koba didn't do anything stupid and isn't in any danger._ She glanced at Milo, not wanting to leave him after finally finding him again.

 _"_ _It's alright."_ He signed with a nod. _"I'll be alright. Just go."_

Dolly gave a nod of her own and followed Luca out of the room. Milo listen until he could no longer hear their footsteps.

 _Dolly._ He let his mind reflect. Replacing the image he had held on to all this time with a new, up to date, image of the female who, along with her brother, had been ghosts to him.

 _Just as beautiful as I remember. Maybe even more so._

* * *

Dot didn't have to come with him, but she did. She probably just came so she could stay with him, but Tori and Koba and the other three had been brought to the file room with them so now it felt like Dot was really just trying to hold him back from possibly attacking either of them again as she hugged his arm. Granted Pope could easily shake her off, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Not after that scene in the junkyard.

Luckily, most of the group were preoccupied with other things. Rocket, Koba and Stone were talking with Caesar and Maurice while Ellie and Tori talked with Malcolm and Foster. Trying to understand what was happening. Pope was the only one who stayed back. He didn't feel like talking to any of them. What's the point? The apes will start arguing with him over the fight in the junkyard if he bothered to speak to them. Besides, they'll eventually tell them what's going on anyways.

"Koba!" Dolly's voice cut through the other's talking. The female bonobo quickly went over to her twin's side. She then held his face in her hands, inspecting his bruises. "What. Happened to face?" She asked.

Pope's fur bristled slightly. He knew he could win a fight with Dolly, but he would much rather fight an ape who he didn't consider his friend. _If_ he and Dolly were still friends at all.

"Nothing." Koba didn't like lying to his sister, but it seemed like a better idea than having another spat with Pope.

Dolly frowned at him. It the same look she gave him whenever she knew he was lying and was waiting for him to admit it.

"Ok, Dolly's here now. Would you tell us what this is about now?" Ellie sounded annoyed. Everyone was a little rattled by suddenly being asked back to the file room, but it was new for Ellie to express it.

"We were just looking through the files for any apes with chip implants and we found something." Malcolm didn't know how to word this. "It involves Pope, Koba and Dolly...And it involves Jacobs."

Almost the second he said the name, all three apes tensed up. Seems like Koba's not the only one who hated that man.

Caesar stayed quiet. Even if he knew what to say, he was too angry and confused at the situation to talk.

Malcolm showed them the documents. "See these? They're Animal Euthanasia Request forms-"

"Holy shit, my father was going to _kill_ them?!" Tori's eyes went wide, horrified that her father would have gone that far.

As the others reacted to the news, Caesar couldn't help but find it very ironic that one of the apes Jacobs had tried to put down just so happened to have been the one to kill him. Coincidental justice perhaps, but he deserved it.

Pope found himself growling softly at Tori. If it wasn't for Dot's embrace on his arm, the scarred chimpanzee would have lunged at the pink hair human. He may not have had the pleasure of killing Jacobs like Koba had, but Tori would be the next best victim for his revenge.

Meanwhile, the scarred bonobo twins were hugging each other. An old reflex from their childhood. Normally, Dolly would bare her teeth at whatever danger was threatening them while Koba hides in her shoulder. But they aren't children anymore, and the danger had passed long before they even knew it was there. The fact that they had been that close to being killed while in the labs scared them to their core.

"How. They. Still alive?" Asked Rocket when he calmed down enough to speak.

"Someone filed an Animal Protection Order on them." A what? Foster could see the confusion in their eyes. "Apparently it was something humans would fill out to protect an animal that they believed was in danger and it would legally protect that animal from being euthanized for any reason other than illness or injury."

"So if Jacobs went through with it, he would have been sued?" Asked Ellie.

"Nope, he would have been charged with animal cruelty and maybe spend five or ten years in prison."

That's why Pope, Koba and Dolly's euthanasia dates were canceled. The shocked silence didn't last long. "Some. Human. Did that." Said Stone. "Who?"

This would be harder to explain. Malcolm had no idea who this was, and neither did Foster. Caesar, Maurice and Luca never heard of the name itself before, let alone know the owner of it. Still, this person had the same surname as Steven Jacobs had so that could mean it was someone related to him-like a sister or cousin. Possibly his own mother? "Someone named Aida Jacobs."

Tori's face went white. She stared at Malcolm, unsure if she had heard him right. She hadn't heard the name in so long that it took a moment for her to recognize it. "Let me see that."

Foster handed her the paper without question.

"…That doesn't make any sense." Tori muttered, more to herself than to anyone else. "That's my mother's signature."

"Your mother?!" Caesar was taken aback. Jacobs was stopped by his own wife?

The others were just as shocked as the Ape King was. They all knew Tori was Jacobs' daughter but up until now, knew absolutely nothing about her mother. All Koba himself knew was that she had died from the virus that killed most of the humans.

"I thought it was just your father that worked in that lab." Said Ellie.

"He was." Tori handed the paper back to Foster. "My father wouldn't even let my mother work at a coffee shop. Let alone at Gen-Sys."

"Then. How she. Save Koba, Dolly and Pope?" Caesar doubted it would have been that easy for Aida to have saved a bunch apes without having worked with them.

"I guess her being the wife of the CEO of Gen-Sys qualified her for filing the order? Hell, I don't know."

The four scarred apes were the only ones who didn't take part in the talking. Dot still had her gaze on the ground as she held on to Pope's arm, though now it felt like genuine comfort. The male chimp and the twin bonobos, however, were silent for a different reason. Their lives were saved. Not by Caesar, but by a human who they never even met. Who they didn't even know existed. And the scariest part was the only way she had known they were in danger and was able to save them was the fact that she was married to the very human who wanted them dead in the first place.

 _What does that make you?_ Pope asked in his mind as he glared at Tori's back. _Your father was a menace to all apes. Yet your mother wanted to protect us. Which side do you choose?_

"There's…One other thing." Malcolm said suddenly. "Koba and Dolly may have younger half-brothers in the base."

"What?!" Koba and Dolly said in unison. They really did look like twins in that second.

"Half-brothers." Malcolm repeated. "They were kidnapped ten years ago, Gavin and Nemo were their names. We're going to ask Cooper if he had seen them around the base."

Rocket, dumbfounded, looked at the two bonobos. "Koba. Dolly. How. Many. Relatives. You have?" For as long as he's known the two, it was always just them. Sure Ishmael had been there for a short time, but it was primarily just Koba and Dolly. Now they have their father back, and maybe half-siblings?

The scarred bonobo twins looked at each other. They didn't know how to answer that, it suddenly seemed very possible that they had more relatives than they thought. "We don't know." They said in unison again.

Ok, now that's getting a little creepy!

Suddenly, Aaron and Dreyfus appeared. "I'm telling you, he would not do this!" Dreyfus sounded upset, which was weird in itself.

"Those are strong words coming from a guy who fights with him half of the time." Argued Aaron.

"I may not agree with Derek's ideas, but he would never turn his back on the people he works with!"

"What is going on here?!" Ellie had to yell at them to get them to stop.

Dreyfus looked at her and the group. His gray hair in his eyes and his glasses crooked. "It's Derek, he's missing."

"Not missing." Corrected Aaron. "He _left_."

* * *

 **A's/N: Aaaaannnnnnnnddddd we get our first controversy-and it's solved in the same chapter!**

 **To explain it, allow me to quote Jacobs in Firestorm! _"You stupid, ugly monkey. If you had any idea what you and that idiot Amol have cost me...By God, I wish I could put you down myself. If I were still in charge, I would."_ If Jacobs really meant that threat, why didn't he euthanize Koba like he said he would? It could have been for financial reasons, but what if someone (or something other than money) stopped him from doing it? This is where Aida comes in! (Also, I don't know if such a thing as Animal Protections Orders are real or if they do but just aren't used to protect animals from unnecessary euthanasia, it's just something I made up. XD) It's also a question that I have about Pope and Koba: They were abused and tortured by humans all their lives, but if a human had saved them (regardless if they ever met that human) would it change their views of the humans at all?**

 **And yeah, very Tori-ish chapter. LOL, just see it as more information about her character and plus, we finally get to see Koba be the 'comforting' one of the duo! X3**

 **You guys may wanna look out for some Pope and Dot, AND Dolly and Milo stuff in the next chapters...Well, there's gonna be lots of drama in the next chapters from here, but yes there WILL be some CUTENESS as well! :3**

 **Now then, remember the mention of two other bonobos who were also kidnapped and were supposedly related to Carlos in chapter 9? That's right guys, Koba and Dolly have little brothers! We'll learn more about them in the next chapters, but yeah Koba's gonna get some more relatives now! XD**

 **As for Derek...Where is he?! LOL, this is gonna be fun!**

 **Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	15. The Lies We Tell Ourselves

**A's/N: And we're back to the long chapters! XD This one took me all month to write, much like the last one, but I'm glad I finished so I can move on to the next one. :)**

 **Warning! This chapter contains subjects such as animal breeding, a blood explosion (similar to the bloody bathroom scene in the movie IT), self-harm, and OC backstory drama.**

 **Enjoy the chapter! :3**

* * *

"He what?!"

"What do you mean he left?!"

The room seemed to have exploded with the groups voices. All of them expressing shock and disbelief that Derek would actually leave so suddenly. The only ones that were silent were Tori, as she tried to make sense of this, and Pope, Dot, and Dolly since the three of them didn't know Derek, as well as the others, did. And then, there was Caesar, who stood still.

"For the last time!" Dreyfus was yelling at this point. "He _DIDN'T_ leave!"

"Then explain this!" Aaron held up a folded up paper. He shoved it at Malcolm. "He left that in his house!"

Malcolm unfolded the paper and read it out loud: "Everyone, I'm sorry but this is becoming too much for me to take. I've decided to leave the city to clear my head. If I don't come back, assume that I'm dead. Derek." He frowned. "That doesn't sound like Derek at all."

"It's not even in his handwriting!" Dreyfus protested.

"You haven't seen his handwriting in nearly twelve years, Dreyfus." Aaron interjected.

"Doesn't matter! I know Derek's handwriting when I see it!"

Caesar waited for the arguing and angry hoots to end but when it only got louder, he had enough. **"No!"** He bellowed, silencing everyone. "If Derek chose. To leave. That his choice. If not. We send patrol to find him."

"No, we need to look for him now!" Argued Dreyfus.

Malcolm tried to calm him down. "We know, Dreyfus. But we also need to figure out how to get to the base and get the apes-"

"Oh, here we go again with the ape talk!" All the apes in the room stiffened-except for Dot who saw Dreyfus' outburst as a threat and hid behind Pope for protection. "Let's not worry about humans, only the apes matter! Oh, look! there's their files! Let's read them and feel sorry for them!"

Before anyone can stop him, Dreyfus suddenly started grabbing random files and started reading them out sarcastically. "Maurice! Born at a circus, sold to many others-Poor devil! Milo! Born in the wild, taken from Africa and sold to a guy named Tommy-What a shame! Red! Born in a zoo, mother bought from Africa-Boo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoo!"

"Dreyfus stop it!" Yelled Ellie. She and the other humans were horrified by his outburst.

"You're crazy, Doofus!" Shouted Tori.

As angry as the apes were, none of them knew what to do. Luca was growling at Dreyfus and Rocket was getting ready to pounce him. The only thing that was holding Koba and Pope back from going for the human's throat was Dolly, who held her twin brother tightly, and Dot who practically clung to Pope's arm. Caesar himself was about to grab at the mayor when suddenly-

"Pope! Born at Ape Land and sold to Blue Hill Laboratories immediately after birth! Mother killed-" Dreyfus must have realized what he was reading because his voice suddenly changed from sarcastic and angry to shocked and confused. "… Shortly after?"

Everyone went silent, thrown off guard by the sudden words. Pope froze. His anger forgotten. "…What?…"

"Ape…Land?" Caesar never heard of this place before. Many years ago, back when he was a child, Will and Charles put on the movie 'Peter Pan' and watched it with him. In the movie, there was a land called 'Never Land' where children never had to grow up. Ape Land sounded similar but it being a land full of apes instead of human children. but if it were run by humans, then were they free at all?

"Let me see that." Said Malcolm as he took the paper from Dreyfus. He read the words carefully in his mind. The paper had something attached to it from behind. When he looked at it, Malcolm realized it was some kind of flier for this 'Ape Land' place.

 ** _Ape Land_**

 ** _Breeding Farm for Zoo and Research apes. Established in 1970._**

The more Malcolm read, the worse it got. He knew for years that most animals in zoos had either came from the wild or had been born in their enclosures but he never knew, nor heard of, anything like this before. It was disgusting!

"It was a breeding farm…" His voice shook as he spoke. "…They bread apes to sell them to zoo's and laboratories."

For a moment, everyone was silent. Tori, Ellie, Foster, Malcolm, and Dreyfus too in disbelief that such a place like Ape Land existed and horrified that someone had to dreamt it up. Even Aaron looked shocked. The apes themselves were still, barely daring themselves to breathe as they slowly began to realize the full magnitude of this place and what may have gone on inside of it.

Humans…Took baby apes…Away from their mothers at birth…Then immediately brought them to zoos…Or worse! To the labs!…And their parents..! They would either be forced to mate again, or…Be killed!

Ape Land wasn't just an ape breeding farm…It was an ape slaughterhouse…!

The group suddenly became aware of a breathing sound in the room. It started low, like a sigh of air, but then grew. The sound was coming from Pope. His golden eyes were huge, his face unreadable due to all the mixed emotions. Pope was always intimidating, but the look on his face alarmed and worried Caesar and the others more than any of his training tactics ever had.

Ellie recognized the beginnings of hyperventilation and realized Pope was having a panic attack. "Pope-!" Before she could get to him, the fishnet scarred chimpanzee suddenly bolted from the file room and ran out of the building. He moved so fast, he almost broke the front door.

Dot, who had let go of Pope's arm when she saw the look on his face, stood where the male chimp had been. She glanced at Caesar and the other apes, her silvery eyes widened. Without saying a word, she turned around and ran after the fishnet scarred chimp.

"…Ok…" Aaron inched away from the door, as if he were afraid Pope would suddenly charge back in again. "…That was…Not good."

"Oh shut up." Said Foster as he shook himself of the shock. He frowned when he looked at Dreyfus. "What's your problem, Dreyfus?!"

"Oh so now you're all going to blame it all on me?!" Dreyfus snapped back. "He was going to find out eventually-!"

"Maybe, but not like that!"

"Ok, ok! That's enough!" Malcolm stopped between Foster and Dreyfus before it could escalate.

Silence briefly fell again, it seemed like everyone was at a loss for words. What kind of words can be said about a place that stole infants from their parents, only have them grow up in cages and in the meantime, kill their mothers and fathers without ever seeing them again?

"Others." Caesar shivered as the realization came over him. "Pope. Not only ape born at Ape Land. There had. To be others."

The others looked at him, the realization hitting them as well. Caesar was right, if Ape Land had been around for a good forty years before the Simin Flue, than there'd be more apes born there. The apes born within the first ten years of it had to be very old or long since dead, but maybe those apes-and the others that followed them, had children of their own wherever they ended up in and same with them, and so on.

"…Caesar…" Ellie looked from the Ape King to the other apes. "…Luca…Rocket…Stone…Where were all born at?…Koba, Dolly where did your mother come from?… What about your parents, Maurice?"

It was a question the apes now asked themselves too. Koba and Dolly had been born at the research center and they always assumed that their mother had been born there too but was she really? And if she was, then were her own parents born there too? Maurice wondered the same thing about his own parents. Luca was born at the zoo, but never knew anything about where his parents' origins. Rocket and Stone never knew their parents.

It quickly became apparent that Caesar was the only one of the group whose parents had been born in the wild. He may never have known them, but he knew his mother was brought to Gen-Sys and his father was left back in Africa. He doubted he was still alive.

"…I think it's safe to say most of you apes were either born at Ape Land or are decedents of apes who were born there." Said Foster when they realized all this.

Tori hadn't said a word since Dreyfus' outburst, so her voice startled the group. Having almost forgotten that she was in the room with them. "I hope that place was burned and destroyed years ago. If not, then it should be."

Suddenly, Blue Eyes came running into the room. The scared look on his face alarmed all of them. "K-Koba! Dolly!" He half yelled, half cried out. "It your father! He is attacking humans!"

* * *

Pope ran until his body hurt all over. He had ran on all fours, so his hands and feet were bloody from the small cuts and scrapes he got. His air deprived lungs demanded him to breathe and he inhaled as much as he could take. His heart pounded so hard he could feel it in his chest and throat and could hear it's echo in his ears.

He had to get out of there. Out of that room and away from everyone. Especially the humans. What he just found out…The existence of Ape Land…Where he came from…How and why he was born..!… It was just too much!

Pope had spent his entire life alone in a cage. He had no memory of his parents as a child, and had thought he had come from the cage itself when he was little. He didn't even know what parents were until Caesar freed him. By then, Pope knew his parents were probably dead but it always comforted him to think that they loved him. That they named him first before the humans changed it. That maybe he got to spend some time with his mother before being separated from her. That his mother may have had him in the cage and had either died or was moved somewhere else before he was old enough to remember her.

And despite being too old to believe it-despite knowing that it may be impossible-deep inside, there was a part of Pope that hoped that one or both of his parents were still alive somewhere and was looking for him. And maybe someday, he'd be with them again. It was a stupid and childish thing, but it was the only thing that gave Pope a sense of hope and he needed that after feeling hopeless for so long.

But now, Pope could feel his hope die and shatter all around him. His wishful thinking gone. His mother had him because she was forced to mate with a random male who she didn't even love…Neither of them, not his father nor his mother, wanted him. They _didn't_ love him. Even if they did love him, they were both dead. He'll never be reunited with them. The only reason he was born at all was so the humans could _use_ and _abuse_ him. That was his only purpose…If it wasn't, he probably wouldn't exist at all.

The realization gave Pope a crushing, lonely feeling. Despite him fighting them, he felt burning tears filling up in his eyes. It didn't take long for them to trail down his cheeks.

 _No one_ wanted him… _No one_ loved him… _No one_ was looking for him.

"Pope!" The voice made him freeze.

 _No! Not her!_ Pope turned around, intending to yell at Dot to leave him alone but found himself staring at her instead. The scrawny, nearly bone-thin, female was huffing for breath. Her waves hair wild from running. No doubt tired out from running after him.

The concerned face looking back at him pained him almost as much as the news of his past. Pope immediately turned away from her. Embarrassed and horrified that she had seen him at this level of weakness. Crying over parents who were long gone and being an orphan since birth.

"G-Go away, Dot." Pope's voice cracked as he fought the sob building in his throat. _"I don't want you to see me like this."_ He signed to save himself from talking.

But Dot didn't go away. She walked closer to the male chimp, her steps as light as a feather. "Don't. Want. To leave."

Pope barely heard her. The despair that he was never loved by anyone turned to rage at the humans that destroyed him. **"Pope! Tool of humans! No one wants Pope! No one loves Pope! Pope have no purpose! Pope have no one!"** He ranted until his voice fell. He could no longer hold in the sob as it broke free.

At that moment, his hatred returned. He felt like he wanted the world to explode and kill everyone in it.

Dot could only watch on in concern silence. Now she understood why Pope didn't mourn his family as he had no one to grieve for. Dot, however, was used to crying and anguish. She lived a lifetime of shedding her own tears. But seeing Pope like this was something different entirely. What she was watching, was an ape who held in so much and let out so little and was now breaking from the inside out before her.

Hesitantly, she walked closer and sat down in front of him. Pope tried to avoid her gaze but didn't have the heart to fight her when she placed her hand on his cheek. He reluctantly looked at her, thinking he must look like a big baby crying over his parents like this.

Drying away his tears and looking at him in the eyes, Dot said something Pope didn't expect her to say. "…Pope…Has Dot…" Pope stiffened with surprise. "Pope not weak…Pope strong…Pope more than just…Human tool…" She then wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

Dot was shedding tears now too, but this time her tears weren't for her own trauma. They were for Pope, and all the hurt he suffered through. In a voice as soft as rabbit fur, she said one more thing. "…You…Are…My hero."

Pope nearly choked on his own breath. Did Dot really mean that? He did save her, so of course she'd probably see him as that. The fishnet scarred chimpanzee's lip quivered as he felt fresh tears run down his face. He felt as if sunshine was warming him up on the inside. As if he were lost and was finally found. Pope had never been hugged before, and he never let any ape touch his scars, but Dot's arms gave him a sense of safety and belonging that he never felt before.

So when Pope wrapped his own arms around Dot as he returned the embrace, he hoped she knew just how much this meant to him.

* * *

No one knew what they'd find in Carlos' room, but they certainly didn't expect the scene they saw when they entered. There were already five or six human nurses inside the room, all were trying to restrain or calm Carlos down, but the elderly bonobo would have none of it. He was bitting, scratching and kicking at any human who dared to come near him. Worse of all, he had one arm firmly wrapped around a woman's body-restraining her-as he held something in his other hand-a scalpel-to her throat.

"What happened?!" Ellie asked one of the nurses, a man called Joe.

"Not sure, mental breakdown I guess." He motioned to the woman Carlos held captive. "She was trying to give him some medicine and he just lashed out."

"What kind of medicine was it?" She pressed on. Due to how many nurses that were already in the room, only she and Koba and Dolly had entered while the others were just outside the opened doorway.

Joe shrugged. "I don't know, it was in a syringe. It fell on the ground and broke when he lunged at her."

Oh crap. Maybe it wasn't the nurse that set him off at all but rather the syringe itself. Ellie stepped forward. "Ok, everyone stop! Just stop!" She shouted.

The nurses all looked at her funny but did as they were told and backed away from Carlos. The woman in the elderly bonobo's grasp, a pale human with long, mud-colored hair, watched with wide, dark eyes.

 **"** **Stay! Away!"** Carlos growled at Ellie, not trusting any human at all. His pale and bony hand shaking as he held the scalpel to his hostage's throat.

Koba and Dolly squeezed past the humans in the room to get closer. "Father!" Dolly both spoke and signed. "Let her go!"

Carlos' eyes practically popped out of his face when he saw his children. **"Koba! Dolly! Get out! Escape! Leave! Now! Not safe! Soldiers everywhere!"**

The bonobo twins glanced at each other. They have never seen their father like this before and it honestly disturbed them to see him act this way.

"There no soldiers here!" Koba gestured to Ellie and the other nurses. "Good humans! They help you! Not soldiers!"

 **"** **SHE! Give drugs!"** Carlos shouted he nodded at the floor where a broken syringe with some liquid around it lay. **"Drugs! Bad! No good!"**

"Not drugs, medicine! Different!"

"I thought he was a drug addict." Whispered Dreyfus with confusion.

"No, McCullough gave him drugs to control him. I don't think he would have taken them on his own." Malcolm whispered back.

"This has to be a PTSD episode." Muttered Foster.

Caesar, Blue Eyes, Maurice, Rocket, Luca, and Stone didn't know what to do. They could only hope that Koba and Dolly could calm their father down before he actually hurts that nurse.

"Shall we tranquilize him?" One nurse asked Ellie.

"No, let's see if they can talk to him first." Said Ellie.

 **"** **They! Soldiers!"** Carlos pointed at the other humans with the scalpel. **"Stay! Away! From them!"**

"No! They friends!"

The change was almost immediate. Carlos looked at Koba with mortified disbelief. **"WHAT?!"** He roared.

Koba hoped he could get through to him this way. "They friends." He repeated. "Saved my life. Koba trust them. They help apes. They not hurt you."

As relieved and happy as Malcolm and Ellie were that the scarred bonobo trusted them and considered them his friends, there wasn't time to show it. They feared what Carlos would do now, not knowing how he'll react to this.

Carlos stared at Koba for what felt like a long time before looking at Dolly. **"You too, Dolly?"** There was still anger or panic in his voice, but he wasn't shouting anymore.

Dolly glanced at the humans and their eyes met. Dolly had never talked to them, she had only seen them. When they first came to the forest, she was wary of them and kept as much distance she can from them. She may not know them as well as Koba, but she knew they were good humans. They saved her brother's life, and she'd never be able to thank them enough for that. Turning back to her father, she said: "If Koba trust them, Dolly trust them too."

It was as if someone clicked pause on a TV screen as it played a movie. Carlos kept his eyes on his children, not moving at all. It was only now, with him being so still, that Caesar and the other apes finally got a good look at him. It was hard to believe that Carlos, a skinny and frail bonobo with so many open sores, could be Koba and Dolly's father.

Slowly, the hand holding the scalpel began to shake before Carlos pulled the sharp blade away from the human nurse and dropped it on the floor. He then let go of the human, who immediately ran to the other nurses the second she was released.

"Are you ok?" Ellie asked the nurse, who only gave a quick nod before being escorted out of the room. Too shaken up to talk.

"Shall we do anything?" Joe asked.

Ellie glanced back at Carlos, who was now being embraced by his children. "No, I think they got it."She said, glancing back at Joe. "But we should clean up that mess-And no more syringes in this room." She added.

Joe understood and quickly picked up the scalpel and cleaned up the broken needle and it's spilled medicine. Koba decided to stay with his father and sister for the rest of the day, which the group agreed with. Knowing Carlos needed both of his children right now. once the room was cleared, the group talked in the hallway.

"What is wrong with that ape?" Asked Dreyfus as soon as it was just them again.

"I told you. McCullough controlled him with drugs and alcohol for years and now he may have drug and alcohol withdrawal." Said Malcolm.

"Although." Ellie interrupted. "Carlos has never been violent before. He's usually just paranoid and delusional." Technically violent outbursts wasn't uncommon with withdrawal symptoms, but Ellie wasn't fully convinced that was the cause of Carlos' behavior. It felt like there was something else going on, but she just couldn't say what it was. "He may have more problems that we're not aware of."

"Ok, then maybe he needs to see a shrink then." Suggested Foster. "It couldn't hurt to give it a try."

"Maybe." Said Ellie.

Meanwhile, in the room, Carlos had calmed down enough to lay back down on his bed. His eyes were still wide, but he didn't seem angry or alarmed anymore. He stayed like that a for a good five minutes before his green eyes closed as he fell asleep. Koba and Dolly just stared at him, hoping a good rest would help.

 _"_ _This is my fault."_ Signed Dolly. _"I left him alone the last time he was asleep. I was just exploring and…I guess I thought he'd be ok by himself for a little while."_

 _"_ _You couldn't have known he'd do that."_ Koba wasn't sure why his twin sister would blame herself for something their father did, but he didn't like it. _"It not your fault."_

 _"_ _I should have stayed with him."_ Dolly argued. _"You're gone with the council most of the time and Father obviously can't be left alone long-"_

 _"_ _Why don't we just take turns watching him?"_ That sounded fair to Koba. He could spend one day with Carlos and Dolly spending the next. That way, they could share the responsibility of helping their father heal.

Dolly didn't know how to answer that for a second. She was used to having to care for someone else alone. Of being the adult when she had no other choice. The only one who ever helped her protect Koba was Milo, and that was back when they lived at Tommy's.

Still, the thought of not being the only one taking care of their father, made her feel better. As if, for once in her life, she didn't have to worry. _"Ok. I like that."_ She thought of something then and tilted her head slightly at her brother. _"Do you even know how to take care of another ape?"_

At that, Koba smiled humorously at her. _"A little bit. I learned from you, best big sister I've ever had."_

 _"_ _I'm your ONLY big sister!"_ Dolly playfully shoved him. _"But I'm happy you learned from me, Baby Brother."_

Oh, now it's on! _"I was born on the same day as you! You're older than me by a few minutes!"_

 _"_ _Yes! I'm older! Born first! That makes you the baby!"_

 _"_ _Does not!"_

 _"_ _Does too!"_

The bonobo twins were soon playfully shoving each other around, though making sure to be quiet to not wake up their father. This was their game, their favorite activity as siblings. Playfully bickering, and then wrestling. They didn't get to do this as much as they should have when they were younger, but doing it every now and then gave them a chance to laugh and just be siblings. Not abused and orphaned children who were now grown up.

It had to be the first normal thing they've done together since the humans and apes first discovered each other.

* * *

Once everything had settled down, for the time being, Tori went back to the file room and began cleaning up the mess Dreyfus had made. Quietly picking up and collecting stray papers, reorganize them and placing them back into their folders. Since Dreyfus had only thrown around three or four files, it wasn't too hard to do. She didn't have to do it, it was Dreyfus' mess and he should be the one to clean it up but with everyone turning in for the night, Tori assumed the mayor was too and she didn't want any of the papers to get lost. Besides, she knew Derek would have wanted it.

She had just picked up a document with Red's name on it when she heard the door open and close. She looked up, and seconds later, Dreyfus appeared in the hallway. He looked just as surprised to see her there as she was to see him. "I thought you went home." He said. By now, everyone else had turned in for the night. Caesar and Blue Eyes went back to Cornelia, Rocket was now with Ash and Tinker, Malcolm and Ellie were checking on Alex and the others were probably going to bed soon. Dreyfus had thought that Tori would do the same.

Tori couldn't help but roll her eyes at him as she looked back to the paper she held. "I don't have anywhere to go." Her voice came out cold, like ice.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"What does it look like? Cleaning up your mess."

Dreyfus took this as a challenge. "I didn't come here to be sassed!"

"And the apes didn't come here to be harassed by you." Tori said with a frown. "Reading their files and throwing them around like confetti? You should know better!"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that, Victoria!"

"Oh, what are you going to do?! Banish me from the city?! Put me in jail?! Kick me off of the team?! Would that make you feel like the big man around here?!"

Dreyfus opened his mouth but couldn't think of anything to say back to her and ended up stuttering over himself. He huffed angrily. He backed away and sat in one of the chairs as Tori went back to reorganizing the files. They were too annoyed with each other to continue talking. Still, Dreyfus found himself reflecting on something else entirely.

"I heard what you said…That night at the jail."

Tori froze. Her back was to Dreyfus, but the mayor could see her stiffen.

"The monitors were working…Enough that we can hear…Malcolm, Blue Eyes and I heard you and Koba talking."

Slowly, Tori turned to look at him. Her brown eyes met his.

"I reviewed your record. From all the times you ran away, to all your hospital visits…" It was hard to tell what Dreyfus was feeling, but clearly something had changed in him. "CPS investigated the… _Accidents_ you've had…Even though they didn't do anything, they were suspicious."

Tori waited. For what, she didn't know but knew there was no avoiding it.

In a voice, so different than his usual tone, Dreyfus asked: "Why didn't you tell me?"

Tori blinked at him, casting her gaze down at the floor for a moment. She never thought she'd have this conversation with Dreyfus. Part of her thought that maybe her past would be topic for only her and Koba to discus. A secret they'd share together forever. She didn't know what to feel now that the very man who had been the second 'bad guy' in her childhood knew the truth.

"I was afraid." Her voice was empty, flat. "…My father…Threatened me and my mother that if we told anyone, he'd make it worse."

"Victoria, I was a police officer then. You were in my car, in my office. You were safe there. You could have told me any of the times I picked you up." Dreyfus wasn't sure if he was angry at her for not telling him about the abuse, or if he was disappointed in himself for not recognizing the signs sooner. "If you had just told me, I would have made sure your father would be thrown in jail. That you and your mother were safe."

"You don't get it." Tori looked back at him. "When you're raised by a parent who abuses you and tells you every day that they'll make it worse if you tell anyone, you accept it and do what they say because that's all you know."

Dreyfus never thought of it that way. He found himself revisiting the day he first picked up Tori. She was eight years old then, with shiny and black hair and always long sleeves shirts and pants. That day, she had ran away from school during lunch. She apparently had a history of doing it, but on that day she managed to leave the school grounds and the teachers lost track of her.

"That's why you ran away so many times…" It was weird how soft his voice was. Tori never heard him sound like that before. "…It wasn't because of behavioral issues or because of school…"

"I was trying to escape." Tori confirmed.

Again, silence fell. Dreyfus couldn't believe it. Ever since that night in the jail, he had secretly been reviewing all of his records on Tori and everything he had on her parents. The Jacobs family weren't rich, but Steven Jacobs sure liked acting like they were. The family lived in a mansion in the more affluent neighborhood. Dreyfus forgot the name, but he knew it was the one that was on a hillside, next to the beach. On the outside looking in, they seemed like a typical family: Steven being the breadwinner with a well-paying job, Aida the stay-at-home wife and mother, and Tori taking swimming and track in school. Unless they knew Tori, one would never know that she had ran away enough times for Dreyfus to alert the neighboring states to watch for her in case she ever crossed state lines. Not that she ever did of course.

Dreyfus had known Tori for seventeen years, and during that time, he thought she as a troubled, out of control, rebel. But now that he knew the truth, that she was actually a victim of child abuse, he felt as though he had failed her. He should have protected her, but all he did was let the abuse continue.

"What happened to you? After your parents died?" He asked, finally. "…I knew you survived the pandemic, but I haven't seen much of you."

Tori only sighed, placing the file she was holding down and walked over to Dreyfus, sitting down in the chair next to him. "…I lived off of the streets for a while…When my mother died, I never went back to my house, so I was homeless for the first two years…Then I met Derek."

At the mention of Derek's name, Dreyfus stiffened up. He still wanted to know what happened to Derek and he was still angry that everyone else seemed to not take his sudden disappearance as seriously as he was. But now he was suddenly wondering why and how Tori ended up working for him in the first place.

"You don't think he left, do you?"

Tori took a minute before answering. "Let me put it this way." She met his eyes. "Eight years ago, I was a thief. I stole food, water, jackets, anything. It was all about survival back then. One day, I stole bread from a camp and the guys living there saw me and cornered me into an alleyway. I didn't know him, and he didn't have to come and help me, but he did. Derek appeared out of nowhere and bargained a trade with those guys. He gave them raincoats and fresh firewood as payment for my bread. After they left, he asked me if I needed a place for the night and let me stay in this building. I've been helping him find lost or forgotten things ever since."

So that's how they met and what they've been up to. It was hard to say what the building itself used to be-or was supposed to be and it seemed like the only real purpose it had was the file room itself but all the other rooms, some being similar to bedrooms and others just being storage rooms, seemed to have a purpose too. Even the rooms, filled to the brink of stuff, were deliberately organized. Dreyfus wondered if Derek collected these things for a reason, and he knew he must have.

"He saved your life."

"He could have been killed. If those goons didn't want to trade, they could have lynched both of us. Derek had to have known that and even after they left, he had to know I could give him trouble but it didn't stop him from helping me."

That sounded typical of him. The Derek Dreyfus knew was always looking out for someone.

"Even if Derek knew it was dangerous and he could be harmed, he would never turn his back on anyone. Humans or apes. If he did leave, he couldn't have done it willingly."

"Something happened to him. I know it."

"If something did, we'll find him and bring him back. But we still have to find that base, otherwise, nothing will get done."

"I know…Why does he care so much about apes anyway?"

Tori wasn't expecting the sudden change in conversation. "What?"

"Ever since all this started, he's become a protector to the apes. I wanted the apes gone, I admit that, but every time I tried to convince him to agree with me, Derek would defend them and even when I arrested Koba and put him in jail, Derek still tried to help him. Even when he admitted to killing McVeigh, Terry, and Carver and tried to kill Caesar." Dreyfus never understood this at all. It frustrated him that Derek would choose the apes side over his when he and Derek had known each other for a good thirty years.

The pink haired woman frowned a little, thinking. Finally, she shrugged. "He never talked to me about his views on the apes…But he did tell me this once: Ten years ago, we-the humans, did things to the apes. We tortured them for science in laboratories, kidnapped them from their homes to display them in zoos, and we abused them for our entrainment in circuses. We all knew it was wrong, but we did it anyway and the lie we told ourselves back then was that it was ok to do it because they were animals, lesser beings than we were, and how we treated them wasn't a reflection of our humanity and we told ourselves that lie because it's always easier to believe in a lie than to accept a horrible truth."

Tori never forgot those words. What Derek said to her really made her see the apes differently and she never saw them the same way again. She never blamed them for the virus, but she used to fear them and what they could do if they decided to attack the city for revenge. Even if they did though, she wouldn't have blamed them.

 _Lies we told ourselves._ Those four words were what stuck out the most to Dreyfus. He never thought of it that way. Ten years ago, he paid no mind to the animals who lived in zoo's or were victims for medical research or performed in the circus, but he was aware of them.

The closest he got to seeing it first hand was that one time, many years ago, when he and Maddy took the boys to a circus. At the time, Edward was eight and and John was six, so it was long before Dreyfus even ran for mayor. After the show, there was an orangutan that suddenly got out of it's cage and the workers started beating it. Everyone saw it. Including his boys. Dreyfus remembered distinctively that Edward was screaming at the workers to stop and John threw his ice cream at one of them, hitting the guy in the head (which was actually kind of funny). Needless to say, both boys went home crying after that.

At the time, Dreyfus was more baffled at the entire thing than angry. Finding both the workers sudden and violent display of disciplining one of their animals to their own customers and the tantrum his sons both had equally shocking. He and Maddy didn't punish the boys for their behavior, but only because they agreed that the workers shouldn't have beaten the orangutan in front of them like that. They never went to a circus again after that.

Now, several years since that evening at the circus, Dreyfus was suddenly realizing that his sons acted that way because they didn't believe in the lie. They were young children, hardly old enough to approbate going to school and just learning to tie their own shoes, but they knew being human didn't mean having the right to hurt animals. In that sense, they were right to throw that double tantrum.

It slowly dawned on Dreyfus that both he, and most of the people in the city, were telling themselves lies too. They all wanted to believe that the Simian Flu was all the apes fault, but the truth was the virus was a human mistake. The apes may have been given the virus but that didn't make them contagious and it wasn't like they wanted to be experimented with it either.

So there it was then. Ten years since the apes were last caged up in the city, and the humans were still telling themselves lies about them. Dreyfus wondered if the apes told themselves any lies about the humans.

* * *

Patrol was uneventful. If it wasn't so important, Grey would have mistaken it for a very long walk in the city with humans and apes. At least he got plenty of exercise, though he'd have to do it again tomorrow.

Cedar's cousin, Redbird volunteered to stay with her for Grey. She didn't really need anyone to watch her, Cedar could take care of herself and Grey knew it but he didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone when he knew it was possible she could get hurt if there was ever an attack.

The building the apes had been given as their 'temporary home' had become something similar to a small village: There were nests and beds everywhere, small fireplaces, places where food and water was stored, and children played all the time. It wasn't as nice as their village in the forest, but it kept everyone safe and gave them a place to sleep and that was all that really mattered.

Their nest was at the corner of the first floor, next to a window so Cedar can see outside. The pregnant chimpanzee was sitting in the nest with her hand on her growing belly as she gazed outside the glass. Redbird was next to her as she groomed her. When she saw Grey coming, she smiled and got up so Grey could take over. Cedar turned her head and froze when she saw Grey. Her lips curved into a smile when she saw him.

 _"_ _You're back."_ She signed when Grey was next to her. _"I was so worried about you."_

 _"_ _I know."_ Grey could still see the worry in her eyes. He hated that look. _"I'm sorry."_

Cedar shook her head, pulling her husband into an embrace. Grey head joined the patrol for the right reasons, she understood that, but she wanted…She _needed_ him here. With her. She didn't feel happy or safe when he was away. "…You're…Protecting me…And baby…I understand." She whispered. "…But hate it…When gone."

"Here now." Grey whispered back as he returned the embrace. "Always."

They fell silent for a while after that, letting time fly by as they snuggled together and watched the shadows grow as night fell over the city. The others in the room began to quiet down as children were being lulled to sleep by their parents, and other apes started making and fixing up their nests to fall asleep on them. Redbird had already settled down in her own nest, right next to theirs, for the night.

Grey was about to fall asleep himself when Cedar nudged him. _"Do you think the peace will last?"_

 _"_ _What?"_

 _"_ _The apes and the humans have united."_ Cedar explained. _"But only because we share the same enemy. When the soldiers are defeated, what happens then? Will the colonies still be united? Or will we go to war with each other?"_

Grey hadn't thought of that but come to think of it, she was right. If it wasn't for the Alpha-Omegas, the apes and humans would still see each other as enemies. _"I don't know."_ He admitted. _"Malcolm, Ellie, Tori, Derek, Alex, Foster, Kempt…They're all good humans. Friends."_ He wondered if he should consider Dreyfus a friend too, but that was still debatable. The mayor was on their side, and he wants the same thing that the apes did. But he wasn't as nice to the apes as Malcolm and the others were.

 _"_ _That doesn't mean all the other humans are. What if they're just waiting for the soldiers to go away before turning on us?"_

 _"_ _If there are any humans like that, the ones we've befriended will stop them."_ For some reason, Grey had to believe that. Too many things happened since the night of the kidnappings for him to consider all humans bad again.

Cedar frowned a little at him. _"How can you say that?"_

Grey wondered if he was beginning to sound like Caesar. He certainly felt like it, and now he found himself feeling annoyed at his own words. But at the same time, as annoying as Caesar's love of humans was, Grey couldn't help but hope that the peace will last. Not just for the sake of not having to fight another enemy, but because he knew that if they didn't stop fighting each other, nothing would change at all.

 _"_ _I guess you just have to have a little faith in them."_ Was all he could say as his answer.

* * *

It was late at night when Rex and Bon met on the roof of the building. They had deliberately chosen to meet when everyone else was sleeping so no one would spy on them. _"Did anyone follow you?"_ Asked Bon.

Rex shook his head. _"I don't think so."_

 _"_ _Good."_

They sat silently for a moment. Neither of them were used to meeting privately without Pope, but if they were still too disappointed and annoyed with him to include him.

 _"_ _What are we going to do now? Pope doesn't want to do anything anymore."_ Rex asked grumpily.

 _"_ _He's too distracted by his new friend."_ Pope could deny it all he wants, but Bon wasn't stupid. Even he knew the fishnet scarred chimpanzee had eyes for Dot-even if he himself didn't realize it yet. _"It doesn't matter. We can still figure out what to do about Caesar without him."_

 _"_ _We're still going to rebel against him?"_ The silverback looked surprised. _"How are we going to do that?"_

Bon glanced at their surroundings. From the building that the colony was staying in, to the many others that housed the humans. Caesar was currently distracted, the entire Ape Council was. They were all busy with trying to find the base and stop the soldiers, but they also had other concerns. Rocket was worrying about Ash-who couldn't even be part of the council right now because of how traumatized he is, Koba now had to help his sister care for their father-who apparently went senile and attacked a human healer earlier, Grey had left the council so he could be with his pregnant wife…Even Caesar seemed to have other stresses. The other apes in the colony appeared to be busy too: Cornelia and most of the other females were caring for Hopely, the Human-Ape hybrid baby, and the many children that had been freed from the base, and many others were too preoccupied with just trying to keep each other safe…

Maybe…

 _"_ _Maybe we won't have to do anything."_ Bon was still thinking as he signed. _"Everyone is already too distracted, even Caesar himself. Maybe we can simply take any ape who disagree with Caesar's rule and just leave without anyone noticing."_

Leaving sounded like a big step. Not only would it mean being free of Caesar, but it would also mean abandoning the Ape King and all the others to fend for themselves. It would be a hard choice, but maybe it would slow the soldiers down and maybe keep them from finding them.

Rex tilted his head. _"So…We leave…And let the bad humans take over Caesar and the others?"_

 _"_ _Essentially, yes."_

The gorilla went silent again as he thought about this. _"…I don't know of any apes that don't like Caesar…But there are plenty of apes who still aren't happy that we're in the city and don't trust the humans here."_

Bon knew what he meant. He could only think of Pope or Koba, but neither of them disliked Caesar enough to abandon the colony to fight the soldiers alone. Aside from them, he knew Stripe, Fox, Red, and Pongo didn't like the Ape King but Red was held captive at the base and Stripe and Fox were just troublesome teenagers…Still, though.

 _"_ _Anyone in the Gorilla Guard?"_ He asked.

 _"_ _Aghoo, Olo, Oak…Me…And I think Russell, Winter's father."_

 _"_ _You realize Russell isn't going to drop anything and leave without his son, right?"_ Bon didn't have to be a Gorilla Guardian to know that Russell would never do such a thing. That gorilla was just as loyal to Caesar as Luca and the others were and if he believed the Ape Council could help find and save his son, whether they were working with humans or not, he'd stay right where he is.

 _"_ _That's just it."_ Said Rex. _"Russell is loyal to Caesar. But let's face it, if Russell had to choose between his son's life or Caesar's, he'd choose Winter."_

 _"_ _So? All parents are like tha-"_ Bon stopped. Now he realized what Rex was getting at.

Most apes, even the most loyal to Caesar, loved their families. Love that could easily rival their loyalty to their leader. Of course, it's only natural for mothers and fathers to want to protect their children, and husbands and wives wanting to protect each other. Russell, having lost his wife in childbirth, was very protective of Winter. He almost coddled him in a sense, but he loved him all the same. If he could, Russell would probably charge at the base and destroy it in a heartbeat if it meant he could save his son.

Grey, meanwhile, didn't have any loved ones in the base, but the Alpha-Omega soldiers threatened the lives of his wife and unborn child and he'd do just about anything to keep them safe…Anything.

 _"_ _I think I have an idea."_

* * *

 _Koba's Nightmare:_

 _Koba is playing with a kitten. The very kitten Mary let him and Dolly play with that one time. It's golden and brown striped fur is as soft as he remembers. Dolly is sitting still as Mary slips on a dress over her head. Playing dress up again, like always._

 _He was back to his childhood. Before the bad things happened. Despite the familiarity, Koba felt dread building up in his chest. Mary's laughter, Dolly's happy squeaks, and the kitten's mews didn't sound normal. The room seemed darker than he remembered, with shadows reaching out to him with their pointed claws._

 _As he played with it, Kobe noticed the kitten began to change. It was subtle and slow, but the tiny cat's fur begins to fade and become lighter until it was white. It's nails became long and gnarled claws. Worst of all, it's head was growing, like that thing Mary showed him once that she called a 'balloon'._

 _Koba backed away from it, he didn't want to play anymore. He didn't know if he wanted his mother, or if he just wanted to get out of the room but he defiantly didn't want to stay in the same room as that used to be the kitten._

 _Suddenly, the kitten's head exploded! Covering the entire room with it's blood…Far too much blood for just one, tiny kitten, to contain…_

 _Koba was now covered in it. The crimson liquid so thick, it matted his fur. He tried to scream but, to his horror, found he couldn't make a sound. His throat felt as if it were being squeezed by an unseen pair of hands. Koba turned around and saw that Dolly and Mary were still sitting together on the floor. Mary holding up a small, black box with a tube sticking out at it's center and pressing a button on it's top side while Dolly sat on the floor and looking up at the thing. Her dress, which was probably normally light yellow, was soaked with blood. Both of them were. Mother, who was watching them play with a rested gaze, was dripping wet with blood too._

 _None of them appeared to be aware of the blood that was now all around them. It was as if they didn't see it at all. What little sound Koba could make wasn't enough to get their attention. It was like they didn't know of his existence._

 ** _"_** ** _Stupid animals."_**

 _The voice was unrecognizable, but he knew immediately who it was. Koba didn't want to look, but found himself turning his head anyway._

 _Roger stood right over him, but only as a shadowed figure. He was unnaturally tall and only his eyes, as red as the blood in the room, glared down at him. The stench of his bottle and the oranges in his sack threatened to make the scarred bonobo vomit._

 ** _"_** ** _Stupid animal."_** _The shadowed Roger repeated._

 _Koba tried to get away, but the floor was so slippery with blood that he slipped and fell instead._

 ** _"_** ** _Oh! No you don't!"_** _Roger raised the sack of oranges, intending to strike him with it, but then-_

 _"_ _Mother!" Koba cried out at the last minute._

 _The sack hit Mother and she fell to the ground. Koba scrambled to his feet and ran to Dolly and Mary, hoping one of them had seen it. But of course, they didn't. Koba could only hide behind Dolly and watch in horror as Roger hit Mother again. And again. And again. More blood and brain matter spattered and poured out of her now limp body. The blood began to pool around her, and the walls appeared to be oozing the stuff itself._

 _The blood…Was_ ** _FLOODING THE ROOM!_**

 _Koba desperately tried to shake Dolly out of her trance and yelled both her name and Mary's, but they couldn't hear him. The blood was rising faster and faster, until it was up to his throat. He could almost taste the copper as it touched his lips._

 _A splash of the crimson had just entered his mouth and choked him silent-_

 _End of Nightmare:_

Koba woke up suddenly when he landed against something cold and smooth. He staggered to his feet and frantically looked around.

"Koba?" Dolly was sitting up, but her eyes weren't completely open. She appeared to be half asleep. "You ok?"

Koba realized with relief that he was in the infirmary room. He glanced at the bed, realizing he must have fallen out of it. "Yeah." Despite knowing where he was, Koba felt scared to be in this room. His old stuffed kitten, the one Tori returned to him, was on the nightstand on his side of the bed. He had never been afraid of stuffed animals before, but right now Koba didn't want to be near any kitten. Real or not. "Go to sleep." He whispered, making his way to the door. "Need water."

Dolly had to be too sleepy to fully understand him. She replied with just a mumble and fell back on the pillow. Falling back to sleep.

Koba opened the door and sneaked outside, careful not to wake up Carlos or rouse Dolly further. Once outside the room, Koba started walking. He didn't know where he was going, he just needed to move.

When he found the old bathroom, he went inside without much thought. This bathroom, in particular, wasn't used anymore. It mostly served as a storage unit for barrels of rain collected water. Koba picked up a random bowl, took some water, splashed some of it in his face and sipped the rest.

As his face dripped wet from water, Koba found himself looking at his reflection in the mirror. At his blind eye and the scar running down it, the scar on his neck and all the other marks that came from humans... _Human work..._

The last thing Koba remembered before it all went black, was the rage creeping it's way back into him.

* * *

It was cloudy when Tori did her morning run. Her duffle bag flung this way and that, but she ignored it. She had ran to the beach like this so many times that she barely felt her bag fling as it protested. This was how she always started her mornings: A run to the beach and a quick swim in the ocean. This way, she can clear her mind of any troubles from the previous day so she can focus on whatever problems the new one would bring.

But more importantly, she loved it. The pounding of her heart as she ran. The windy sound of the cold air blowing in her ears, breathing it in and filling her lungs with it. It made her feel alive, like she was free.

As always, her run was a blur. When she got to her favorite beach, the very one she and Koba became friends on, she took a moment to catch her breath before taking off her regular clothes putting on her bathing suit shorts. The chilled air cooling her off as she did.

 _Wonder what happens now._ She couldn't help but think back on her and Dreyfus' talk last night. They had gone from fighting, to talking. Talking about the past... _Her_ past…And about Derek and the apes Did this mean that she and Dreyfus were friends now? Would he start being nicer to the apes? Will he finally stop being such a doofus?… Would she even still call him that? Hell, she had no idea.

The sand was soft, and felt good between her toes as she walked over to the water. Tori inhaled as much of the sweet, salty air as her lungs could take in and let it out in a long sigh. This feels good. She took a minute to listen as the waves splashed and soaked into the think sand and then pull back to the blue water. Then, she walked across the brown wooded dock and leaped into the water, letting the water take her away to a cold, yet beautiful calmness.

Like always, the ocean water embraced her like an old friend. The shock of suddenly being in cold water made her shiver and her bathing suit felt as though it were glowing with the freezing water, but Tori was used to this and didn't let it stop her from swimming. She stayed in the water for an hour before getting out and drying off. As much as Tori loved the freedom of her morning swims and being at the beach, she didn't want to be alone and away from other survivors for longer than she had to be. Eight years ago, there were the riots and lynch mobs that always looked for their next victims and now they've been replaced by the AO soldiers who could appear at any time. She had never encountered a shark in all the times she swam out here, but the possibility of seeing one was always there. Even if the beach was perfectly safe, Tori would rather be careful for nothing than get killed for being reckless.

She had just dried herself off and was about to change into her normal clothes when suddenly: "TORI!"

Tori jumped when she heard the sudden cry, not expecting the usually quiet and abandoned beach to suddenly come alive like that. She turned around, and saw a blur of black fur running from the parking lot and down the stairs.

Koba? The bonobo was holding something in his arms. Tori thought it was a bundle at first, but then she realized he was holding it wrong. He had one arm under it and the other on top. His black furred arms and the white rag-or towel, looked like an Oreo. It was only when he was just feet away from her that Tori saw the thing was bloody.

Blood? He was bleeding!

"What the-?! Koba!" Tori ran over to him. She grabbed the arm on top of the rag and looked at it. His arm had this horrible, deep cut across it. She took the rag off of his other arm and saw the same cut on it. They weren't as long as the scar running down his right arm, but they deep. Deep enough to need a tourniquet.

"Come here, Koba!" Tori pulled him to her duffle bag and she quickly pulled out her rainwater-filled water bottles. She opened one and dumped the water over his left arm and did the same with another bottle on his right one. Tori suddenly wished she had paid more attention to her biology class in high school. Even if she doubted the textbooks had any information about open and bleeding wounds.

After cleaning some of the blood off, she dug around her duffle bag before finding her first aid kit-though it mostly contained of sunscreen, bug repellent, various lotions and just a few bandages. She could clean the wounds and stop the bleeding, but Koba's cuts were deep enough to need stitches. Tori knew he wasn't going to like that.

Koba's eyes were huge. If it wasn't for Tori holding his arms, he'd be shaking all over. "Koba…" Tori hesitate, feeling sick with worry. "How did this happen?"

He didn't answer. He just kept looking at his arms with this look on his face. A look that scared Tori almost as much as the wounds themselves.

"Holy crap, Koba! Don't tell me you-!"

"No-!" Koba finally looked at her, he was close to crying. "N-Nightmare, last night…Needed water…K-Koba…See Koba in…Glass…" Mirror? "…Wake up." He gestured to the wounds. "This."

So these wounds weren't intentional? Koba seemed fine yesterday and the days before that, so Tori didn't think he was still suicidal…She _didn't_ want to believe he was…Especially after he reunited with his father and let go of his- Then it hit her.

"Are...Are you stressed about anything?"

Koba didn't answer at first. After letting go of the past, he thought he'd be ok. He thought he won't have to feel angry anymore. Now he just didn't know what was wrong. "…My…Father…He hates…Humans too…" He gestured to himself with one hand. "Hard to forget…Past."

She still wasn't sure, since she never knew anyone who had it, but could it be possible that what Koba experienced was a mental blackout? What little Tori knew about these things couldn't hold a candle to what a professional would know but she did know that they tended to be a result of trauma-related stress.

 _He cut himself with the mirror._ Tori glanced at his arms, finally noticing the much smaller and minor cuts in the sides of his hands. It looked like he slammed them into glass. _How could no one hear a noise like that?_

Whatever Koba was thinking, he kept it to himself. "…Think…Need…Help." Was all he said.

Tori didn't know if she should be amazed that he actually said that or concerned by how frightened he was. Koba obviously didn't hurt himself with the same intention he had when he attempted to hang himself. He knew this was bad too, and it scared him.

She didn't have to see his face to know he was shedding tears. Tori gently pulled him into a hug and felt relief when he wrapped his strong arms around her smaller form. She stroked his head and back, finding comfort in feeling his fur. "Ellie has friends who can help with these things. Physiatrists, they're like nurses but they help with mind problems instead of physical injuries." She tried to explain. "Do you want to see if she can help?"

Koba answered in the form of a nod. He didn't have energy for words. He swallowed to loosen the cold rock building in his throat as he rested his head on Tori's shoulder. She smelled like the water, and he breathed in the smell because it comforted him. He felt himself feeling calmer. Not better, but like he was safe.

And Koba knew he was.

* * *

Alex didn't want to leave his room. He didn't want to do anything other then sit in his corner and draw pictures. He drew many things the past several days since coming back. The lab, all the people he saw, what he saw soldiers do, the things he was subjected to. He drew everything he witnessed while at that base, afraid that if he didn't the images would stay in his mind and haunt him in his sleep. Many of them did, and those were the ones he drew the most often.

He sat quietly as he sketched his latest memory. This time, of some of the people from the base. Though the door was closed, Alex could hear his parents talking in hushed tones.

"How is he today?"

"He still hasn't eaten much. He just stays in that corner, drawing all those pictures."

"I've seen him draw them but for some reason, he hides them away."

"He does that with me too."

Alex ignored them. They wouldn't understand. No one will ever understand. All he had was his paper and pens and pencils.

"I wanna take him with us when we go meet with the others today."

"Malcolm-"

"He needs to get out of that room, Ellie. He's been cooped up in there, drawing pictures all day, since he came back."

"You know what we see on a regular basis. We're trying to find the base and Alex had been there. I'm afraid it might scare him."

"I'm not saying have him watch what we do. I just don't want him to be in that room anymore."

Their voices became more muffled for several minutes before the door opened and Malcolm walked in. "Hey, Alex. Did you have a good sleep?" He asked as he squatted down in front of him.

No answer. Just another scribble on his paper.

Malcolm glanced at the bed, taking note of the untouched blankets and sheets and undisturbed pillow. Alex hadn't touched it at all. How could he sleep in the corner with only the clothes on his back? "Sure you don't want to sleep in the bed? It looks comfy."

Still no answer. Alex doubted he'd ever find comfort in a bed again. He kept his eyes on his paper, the rest of his head hidden by his hoodie.

Whatever his son was drawing, he clearly didn't want Malcolm to see it. He didn't push him to, believing these drawings could help Alex cope with the trauma. But it still hurt and worried him that whatever Alex went through, he wasn't opening up and talking about it with him, or with Ellie, or anyone for that matter.

"You know, while you and...Caesar, Ash, and Dolly were gone, we-Foster, Kempt, Dreyfus, a man named Derek, a woman named Tori, and your mother and I, had teamed with the apes in the Ape Council to try and find the people who took you."

At the mention of the apes, Alex's hand abruptly froze and the young boy finally met his father's eyes.

"We see each other every day." Malcolm noticed this and he hoped it was a good thing. "We're going to see them again today...Do you want to come?"

Alex stared at him for a second. Before the monsters of his memories would haunt him at night, he'd think about the apes. From the moment they discovered each other, to the night they saw the city lights come back to life. He thought about Caesar, and his mighty bellow. Of Maurice's gentle eyes, and of Koba's snarls. Though he only knew the apes for a short time, he missed them. Alex side glanced at his sketchbook, he clung to it as if it were a blanket.

"You can bring your sketchbook along too." Said Malcolm in a soft voice, as if Alex was a small child again. "Would you like that?"

The teenager only gave a nod as his answer. He closed the sketchbook for now, knowing he can work on it again later.

In the meantime, he hoped he wouldn't forget her. The chimpanzee with the very brown fur.

* * *

"Ok, so what do we do today?" Asked Kempt enthusiastically, trying to lighten the mood.

"Same as always, I guess." Said Dreyfus. He hoped so, his head had picked today to start aching.

So far, it was just Dreyfus, Kempt, Caesar, Blue Eyes, Maurice, Luca, Stone, Malcolm, Ellie, and Alex. Foster was late, no one knew where Koba was, Tori wasn't back yet, and Rocket had decided to spend the day watching over Ash for Tinker. From what they saw yesterday, poor Ash probably shouldn't have come at all. With them and Derek gone, the group seemed small. Despite being around the apes again, Alex still stayed quiet. He decided to be next to Maurice and hadn't left his side since, which the orangutan didn't mind at all.

"We talked to the patrol." Said Caesar, gesturing to himself and to Malcolm. "They will search for Derek."

"Yeah, in the meantime we should look for that base." Added Malcolm.

"We'll have to send Victoria back to the junkyard for that." For once, the slight annoyance in Dreyfus was welcomed. It felt normal that way. "You guys didn't find anything yesterday."

"Things. Happen." Shrugged Stone as the door opened and Tori appeared.

"Speak of the devil, Victoria we still need stuff for the radio." Dreyfus barely looked at Tori, he really didn't feel like talking to her again after last night. If he had thought, he would have seen what the others noticed.

Almost immediately, the group knew something was going on. Tori was still in her swimsuit and was trailing sand everywhere. Her hair wasn't even tied in their usual ponytails and just hung in clunky, dried knots. She looked worried about something, though she no indication of what.

"I'll do that later, Dreyfus." She answered half-heartedly. "Ellie, may I borrow you for a minute?"

Ellie glanced at Malcolm and the others before answering. "Uhh, sure." She then followed Tori out of the room and down the hall. The door closed behind them seconds later.

"What was that about?" Asked Kempt.

"Probably nothing dramatic." Dreyfus wished he had a coffee, he needed one. "Let's just figure out what we're doing before I fall back to sleep."

Stone and Kempt found that funny and they laughed at the mayor's remark.

"I can look in junkyard." Volunteered Blue Eyes. "Help Tori find things."

Caesar never thought he'd emotionally relate to a human-like Dreyfus but he found himself wanting to go back to bed too. "Be. Careful then."

 _Be careful._ Blue Eyes had a feeling that no matter how old he'll get, everyone would still tell him that.

Malcolm considered having the group split up again: Half stay and work on the radio and the other half look for parts. He also thought about the files and whether or not they should continue looking through them today. He had managed to find the files belonging to Koba and Dolly's younger half-brothers. There wasn't much in them though. From what he could tell, Nemo was born at a laboratory and was going to be used for experiments, like his older siblings, but was taken by the Alpha-Omegas when he was six. Gavin, meanwhile, was born at a zoo and was only a year old when he was kidnapped. Malcolm, Caesar, and Maurice had also looked for any information about Carlos' other children but their files were either missing or said that they had died. It looked like the only ones still alive were Koba and Dolly themselves. No one talked to Cooper yet, so there was still a chance that Gavin and Nemo were already dead.

 _And then there's that girl._

"Uh, guys?!" Foster Appeared in the doorway. Everyone had been so focused in their planning that they didn't even notice the door open and close. He held something in his hand. "Any reason I just found this outside?"

What Foster was holding, was a bouquet of flowers…Or, what used to be. The flowers were so dried up and rotten, they disintegrated at the slightest touch.

"They're just dead flowers, what's the big deal?" Dreyfus couldn't help but frown at the bouquet. Whoever put this together obviously didn't have very good taste.

"Not just the flowers." Foster pulled one of the dead plants out. It crinkled and broke into a million pieces in seconds. "These." The group looked closer. Now they saw what he meant.

Each of the flowers, had a tag tied to their hollow stems…And each tag had a name written on it. One had Rocket's, another had Ellie's.

Wordlessly, they took the bouquet apart and pulled out the name tags. The humans reading them out loud.

Derek

Maurice

Pope

Foster

Malcolm

Tori

Blue Eyes

Luca

Grey

Stone

Koba

Kempt

The only names they didn't find were Alex's and Ash's. Even weirder than the names themselves, was how they were written. Everyone had one letter in their names that was capitalized and colored a different color. The I in Tori's name was red, the C in Caesar's name was light green, the O in Pope's name was magenta colored and so on. Rocket's didn't have this, but his did have a reddish-orange mark over his name and Derek and Dreyfus had brown explanation points next to theirs.

Caesar vaguely remembered male humans giving female humans flowers when they liked them, Will did that a lot for Caroline. But the flowers he gave to her were always fresh and alive. He wasn't sure what dead flowers meant, but Caesar was certain it wasn't a romantic gesture.

"Someone sent us dead flowers with our names written like that on them?" Asked Dreyfus.

"That's a little weird." Said Kempt.

"Hell yeah, it's weird." Foster looked creeped out. "Who would send dead flowers as a bouquet? That's just messed up."

Stone, against his better judgment, sniffed one of the flowers. "It not smell good." He said.

Luca frowned a little at the chimpanzee. _"It doesn't have a smell, you idiot."_

 _"_ _Yes, it does."_ Stone argued. _"It smells like a dead weed."_

Alex stared at the tags, particularly at the way the names were written. He reached out and managed to take the ones that belonged to his mother, Pope, Grey, Koba, Derek, Rocket, and Tori and looked at each one more carefully. Every time a page was dropped or abandoned, he'd pick it up and add it to his little mix and match game.

Maurice didn't stop him. He watched silently as the boy concentrated, wondering what he thinks of the tags.

"You know what else I don't understand? Why Pope is included when he's not even on the team."

"Maybe whoever sent us these thought he was."

"Why would they send us dead flowers at all?"

"Forget the flowers, why would they write our names like that?"

It frustrated the group that they had no answers to these annoying questions. None of them were necessarily afraid, but the fact that someone had actually left them dead flowers and knew their names well enough to spell them was unnerving.

"It's a rainbow."

Malcolm's knees buckled at the voice he hadn't heard for days. He and the others turned around. Alex sat on the ground with the tags lined up in front of him. "Alexander?"

"The names." Alex pointed at them. "They form a rainbow."

Maurice looked at the group, his face questioning. _"Could this mean something?"_

Malcolm came closer to look at the tagline.

"Maybe." Caesar answered as he watched Malcolm think.

Alex was right. It was hard to tell, but the names did form a rainbow starting from _TorI_ to _Dreyfus!_ and _Derek!_ … Huh, it almost looked like…Malcolm's eyes widened. He reread what he was seeing, before bolting to the whiteboard and writing it.

"Malcolm?" Dreyfus asked.

"What. Is it?" Asked Blue Eyes.

Foster, Kempt, and Dreyfus understood the message before Malcolm could finish it but the apes still didn't understand. When Malcolm pulled away and stepped back, he read it out loud in a shaky, terrified voice.

"I'm watching you."

 ** _I'M WATCHING YOU!_** as it read back on the board.

* * *

 **A's/N: Cliffhanger time! XD**

 **Something I noticed when I was reading the comics online was that Pope's backstory is never revealed, which I think is a little sad. The poor guy obviously had some issues that were similar to Koba's but unlike Koba, Pope only appeared in the comics and virtually doesn't exist in the movies so it's easy to forget him like that. Ape Land is sort of my explanation for where some of the apes came from in general. I mean, seriously, I doubt they were ALL born in zoos or labs and what not. X3**

And now we see Pope's vulnerable side! Honestly, this is another thing I noticed on here. There are very few stories of Koba being a good guy on but **there are even fewer stories that have Pope as a character at all and the few that do have him as Koba's 'villain replacement'. Nothing wrong with that of course, but I think it would be nice to see more stories of Pope AND of Koba in general.**

 **Ok, who can relate to Carlos here? Does anyone else hate and/or fear needles? Personally, I'm ok with shots (I used to be really afraid of them tho!) but I have a phobia of blood drawls so I don't blame Carlos.-And hay, we finally get to see Koba and Dolly act like siblings! :D**

 **I don't think I've ever had Tori and Dreyfus really talk before so I felt like it was high time they sat done and talked their issues out. Hope you guys found it interesting! X3**

 **More Grey and Cedar too! Shoot, I should really do something with Red, Winter, and Lake again. I kind of neglected them this time. DX**

 **Uh oh, what is Bon and Rex planning here?! I guess Pope's minions are smarter than he thinks! XD**

 **I actually didn't realize how much like that scene in the movie IT Koba's nightmare actually was. X3 Oopsy! But yup looks like he still has demons to face.**

 **I honestly forgot about Alex. X'D So hopefully this will fix it.**

 **Now, who's the wise guy sending our favorite team some dead flowers and all that?...Let's just say, this is gonna get interesting.**

 **Alrighty, now that I got my comments up, I'm gonna ask/announce something here. I currently have two other PoTA fanfic ideas that I'm considering starting as soon as this one is finished or just start it as I work on BTS. I only want to do one of them though, I don't think I can do more than two at the same time. So, here's the two stories:**

 **Land of The Dead (Before anyone asks, no I didn't steal the name-I only know the title was also used in either a movie or TV show when I got lost on this site once and by then I've already named in Land of The Dead so I'm just gonna stick with it): Land of The Dead takes place after Caesar dies. It's basically about Caesar, McCullough, Blue Eyes, Koba, Cornelia, Luca, Preacher, Pope, Malcolm, Ash, Grey, Red, Winter, Stone (yeah he's dead in the story!), Dreyfus and my three OC's (Esther, Sheila, and Netta) are trapped in a prison in the afterlife and are forced to team up to move on. This would be my only story that doesn't involve changing the plots of the movies and it's the first time I make McCullough the not-so-bad bad guy. XD**

 **Loveless War is the Caba story I mentioned a while back though it's also becoming a Winter x OC story as well as a Caesar x Koba story. XD In Loveless War, Koba has an adoptive daughter named Nala (my only OC in the story and Winter's possible love interest) and when the humans reappear, it reveals a darkness within Koba that not even he knew about…It may include a Caesar x Koba and Pope x Koba love-triangle thing too.**

 **Like Before The Storm, both stories contain OC's and Canon x OC's couples but neither follow Before The Storm and are different stories.**

 **I tend to jump between the two but I'm kind of leaning towards Loveless War because I have the plot mostly figured out and I'm actually excited to do a Caba story of my own! X3 Again, I may do one of these stories soon but I'm not sure if I'll do it after Before The Storm is over or if I'll work on both-I think I can do both, I'm just afraid that if I do that I'll lose interest in one or the other or both or get overwhelmed or something. Idk, what do you guys think?**

 **Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	16. The Color of Blood

**A's/N: Sorry for the long wait guys, I kinda got distracted with life again. XD**

 **So anyways, this chapter was literally the hardest one I've ever made so far! I had to take things out, move things around, rewrite and rethink a lot of the stuff in it, but I'm finally happy with the results and I hope you guys will be as well. ^^**

 **Warning: This chapter includes scenes/mentions of torture, mention of Rabies, interrogations, hints of suicide and self-harm behavior, and hints of stalking.**

 **Anyhow, enjoy the chapter! :D**

* * *

Almost as soon as Malcolm read the hidden message, the group looked around the building for any clues as to who may have left the flowers. When they didn't find any, they locked all the doors and windows as best as they can. They said nothing, too overwhelmed to say anything. It wasn't until they knew the building was fully secured that they finally started talking again.

"Is this a joke?" Asked Foster.

"If it is, I don't get it." Said Kempt.

Dreyfus looked at them both with a frown. "Joke?! What kind of sick _joke_ is this?!"

There was no question as to who did it, species-wise. This was too humanish to have been done by an ape. Not even Dexter, the notorious prankster of the Gorilla Guard, could come up with something like this. This wasn't even his usual pranking style! Problem was, there weren't very many human pranksters in the city at all. Everyone was mostly too busy trying to stay alive to sneak a mischievous laugh with nasty tricks.

"Shouldn't we be more concerned with the message itself?" Malcolm asked, looking from the words to the others. "Whoever did this knows all our names and that we meet here."

"Someone we know?" Blue Eyes couldn't think of any human they knew that would do something like this.

"Maybe…Or worse, someone we don't know."

The room suddenly didn't feel safe. It was like the words themselves had eyes and were watching them talk. Understanding what they were saying.

Alex fell silent after recognizing the rainbow out of the names. Maurice had stayed with him while the others locked up the building. Now, the orangutan looked just as worried as they were. _"What about our families?"_ He signed. _"Everyone in the infirmary and in Ape Building?"_

Ape Building was the unofficial name given to the building the apes now stayed in. It was originated by the other humans in the city as a nickname but the ape colony adopted it as the name of the building because it fit so well. Maurice was right. Even though the names of their loved ones weren't included in the message, it didn't mean they weren't also being watched.

Everything about this made Caesar nervous. He was the leader of the ape colony and, as their king, he's suppose to protect them all. But this was different, unlike any danger he ever encountered. When they first escaped into the Muir Woods, he knew the enemy was any and all humans who came after them from the city and then after that, it was just bears and the occasional wolves. But this danger didn't have a name or a face and no known pattern that he could work with. It made him feel utterly helpless.

"Luca, have Gorilla Guard check on everyone in city." He said as he turned to look at the gorilla.

Luca gave a nod and immediately left the room. Probably relieved to just get out of the building. No one would blame him, the four walls of the file room didn't feel right anymore.

"So what do we do now?" Asked Kempt.

Everyone was asking that question, and there didn't seem to be any good answer. Aside from the message, no other threatening thing had happened. No attacks, no kidnappings, no murders…And even if there was any, how could they tell if they were related?

"We just…Keep working on the radio and be very careful."

 _How can we be careful when someone is watching us and could hurt us at any second?_ Blue Eyes had to literally bite his tongue and squeeze his hands into fists to keep from saying those words. He knew Malcolm was right, but he hated it. If someone really is watching them, and they have intent to harm them, being careful wouldn't be enough to protect them. But not knowing who this person is or what they look like, makes it harder to do that.

* * *

McCullough hated the security cameras. They were useful, but were in dire need of replacement. The base was filled with them but most didn't work and the ones that did, were suddenly buggy. Old age and exposure to the elements, most likely.

"I thought I told you to have this fucking thing fixed!" He said as he angrily turned to look at Boyle.

"We did, Sir." Boyle quickly stated. "The wind must have done it."

The colonel rolled his eyes in annoyance. It wasn't Boyle's fault he wasn't skilled in dealing with technical issues, but it would have been nice if he was.

There had to be about ninety security cameras all together. Twenty of them were outside, and the rest were in the buildings but even then, only fifteen cameras were actually functional. Thankfully, the one he was most interested in was one of them. The camera in particular was on the ceiling of the hallway were Red and Winter were, directly pointed at them. They were slightly blurred on the screen, they could clearly be seen standing guard at Rose's door.

"Shall I have someone check the cameras again, Sir?" Asked Boyle.

"Later." McCullough kept his gaze on the screen as he watched the two gorillas. Sometimes they'd sign to each other and other times one of them would fall asleep while the other kept watch and then they'd switch places. It was Red in particular that the colonel watched the closest. "Right now, just get me a cigarette."

Boyle nodded and abruptly left. The room they were in was hidden by a door: it could easily be mistaken for a closet if the door was left unopened. It was located next to the bedroom and was always locked whenever the servants around. It was the only room they weren't allowed in.

"Is Johnathon in there?" Came the sweet voice of Elaine.

"Yes but he-"

"Let her in, Boyle." McCullough interrupted. Seconds later, Elaine appeared. "What is it, my exotic flower?"

A different Caroline would have been disgusted with being called that by him. But that part of herself was gone, replaced by a person who can mask her feelings easily and without effort. "I just wanted to know what you'd like for breakfast. The servants found pancake mix."

At the mention of pancakes, McCullough couldn't help but lick at his lips. Pancakes with hash browns were his favorite but he knew such food was rare to find nowadays. "Tell them to make that."

"They don't know how."

"Then teach them." Elaine was the only person he never got annoyed with. Maybe it was because she chose to stay with him this long, despite all the destruction he caused and was still causing…Unlike his first wife.

Caroline was about to leave to do just that, when she caught sight of what the colonel was looking at. One of the gorillas on the screen was white, but the other...It couldn't be! Was it? She walked a little closer to get a better view. Focusing on the red and black furred gorilla.

"New guards?" She asked casually.

"Yes, by the advice of Roscoe." McCullough didn't notice how interested she really was. "The white one is Winter and the other is named Red." He shook his head. "Apes have such weird names."

It _is_ him! Caroline couldn't believe it. Red was older now, no longer the tiny and helpless newborn who needed care in her veterinarian office, but it was him.

 _Flashback_

 _Caroline woke up at about six AM and after a quick shower, a visit to her closet, a coffee run and a short drive in her car, she was in her office. It was a typical morning at the zoo, with the early morning lines just beginning to form and stores opening for the day. The smell of cotton candy and churros hadn't yet filled the air with their artificially sweetness but it smelled nice outside anyway. Caroline didn't expect anything crazy would happen; she had made plans with Will after work and was looking forward to seeing him and Caesar again and as far as she knew, nothing else would happen._

 _That is, until one of the zookeepers came rushing into her office. "Dr. Aranha! Somethings wrong with one of the gorillas!"_

 _Caroline had just enough time to swallow her sip of coffee before some other zookeepers, Chad and Laura, pushed a table with a sedated gorilla laying on top of it through the door. "What happened?" She asked as she grabbed her stethoscope._

 _"_ _I was just putting fresh food into the gorilla enclosure and she just collapsed." Caroline felt bad for Laura. This would be every new zookeepers worst nightmare...Well, one of them anyway. "I came closer to her and she was breathing funny."_

 _Caroline quickly examined the female gorilla, listening to her heart beat and her breathing. Both were abnormal. She then took her temperature and checked her pulse. "I'll have to run some tests on her but I think she may have pneumonia. She has a fever and it sounds like there's something in her lungs." She said after a few minutes._

 _"_ _Aw man, don't tell me another illness is effecting the animals!" There was recently a bad case of white-nose syndrome in the bat enclosure and the whole exhibit had to be closed for weeks. The bats were finally put back just last Friday, but many of them had died because of the illness._

 _Caroline had decided to give every animal in the zoo a through physical to check for any other sicknesses but hadn't found anything. "What's her name?" She asked as she grabbed her chart. To make it easier to identify the animals, the zookeepers would name them and then Caroline would keep a chart that listed their names, species, genders, ages, and place of their births. Not all zoos do this, but there's a certain joy that comes with naming an animal, domestic or not, and keeping track of all them and where they all came from was convenient in this circumstance._

 _"_ _Ariyah."_

 _Caroline flipped the clipboard chart over to the gorillas page and found he name easily. According to the chart, Ariyah came from Africa. "She's from the wild."_

 _"_ _So?" Chad was getting impatient, but he always was when he wanted answers._

 _This would be why the chart was so convenient. "If she came from the wild, it's likely this is something she picked up while she was in Africa and it just didn't take effect until now. If that's the case then the other gorillas might not be sick-we should still check them to make sure though."_

 _"_ _Will she be ok?" Asked Laura. She was holding Ariyah's larger hand to her chest, as if she were hugging it. She loved gorillas._

 _"_ _It depends on how bad it is but I think-" Caroline paused mid-sentence when she noticed something. Did Ariyah's stomach just move? Gently, she felt the gorilla's belly. Hoping her out-of-wack bedtime schedule and early wake up hours, mixed with her daily dose of caffeine were finally getting to her. "Is she pregnant?"_

 _Chad and Laura were confused by the sudden question. "What? Wasn't she tested when they caught her?"_

 _"_ _They make sure that the animal is healthy, that doesn't include a pregnancy test." So Chad didn't know. As assistant to the head zookeeper, Chad was supposed to know these things. But if he didn't know, then…!_

 _"_ _We need to do an ultrasound." Caroline hoped she was wrong. She hoped that what she saw was just Ariyah breathing but she knew what pneumonia breathing looked like and whatever is was, it absolutely, positively, wasn't that._

 _Chad and Laura helped her take Ariyah to the surgical room, which was slightly bigger than her office but felt smaller because of all the machines in it. Including an ultrasound machine. Caroline's fears were confirmed within minutes. Ariyah was indeed pregnant and sick with pneumonia. She was only seven and a half months along, but her baby was in trouble._

 _The baby was in fetal distress._

 _End of Flashback:_

"Where did they come from?" Caroline asked, hoping to hide the tension she felt.

"That Ape Colony in San Fransisco." Luckily for her, McCullough was too focused on his screen. "I doubt Winter's competence, but I think Red could be useful to me."

 _Useful? What does that mean?_ A chill ran down Caroline's spine as she looked back at the screen. She could tell he was planning something, and whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Caroline learned the hard way years ago that once McCullough had a plan in mind, virtually nothing and no once can stop him. His ambition cost the lives of millions and, despite being the closest to him, Caroline couldn't do anything to change his mind. The blood of innocent, murdered apes and tortured humans were on her hands just as much as they were on McCullough's and their ghosts haunted her for not doing enough to save them.

Now she feared Red would carry the same burden. "All that thinking must make you hungry then." She began to leave the small room. "I'll get the servants and make you some pancakes."

"Bring them in when they're ready." McCullough was still studying Red. He looked at the gorilla as if he were a new car he was debating on. Disgusting.

Caroline slipped out of the room and looked at the three apes in the kitchen area. Cortez was holding the pancake mix while Lake stood next to him. Rowena was mopping the floor-which was hard to watch as the action seem to give her pain. It was hard to say just how old she was, but Caroline could guess that the elderly orangutan was probably close to a hundred in ape years and might have arthritis.

 _"_ _What's wrong?"_ Asked Cortez.

In her opinion, the one good thing that came from all of this was Caroline learned more Sign Language in the last ten years. She was better at it now than she was before the virus. _"Someone I used to know is in trouble. I think McCullough is going to use him for something."_

 _"_ _Who is he?"_

 _"_ _A gorilla named Red."_

 _"_ _I know him!"_ Lake piped in. All this time she wondered what has become of Red and Winter since that scene outside. _"Where is he now?"_

 _"_ _He's guarding one of the rooms. I don't know where it is, it's one of those rooms McCullough doesn't tell me about."_ Even though she could easily be McCullough's 'queen', there was a lot about the base, and about the man himself, that not even Caroline knew. Certain parts of the base that Donkeys and soldiers could only be allowed in if they were blindfolded or unconscious, rooms that McCullough didn't let anyone enter under any circumstance, and just things that the colonel simply wouldn't tell anyone. Sometimes, Caroline liked to pretend she were trapped in a castle full of secrets but other times, she feared what those secrets could be and hoped she'd never have to uncover them. _"He's with another gorilla named Winter. Do you know him too?"_

 _"_ _Yes, I'm from the same colony as them."_ For a moment, Lake allowed relief that Red and Winter had managed to stay together to fill her before the dread of what may happen to them could take over. _"Did he give you any indication of what he's planing?"_

 _"_ _He just said that Red would be 'useful' to him. I don't think McCullough is going to hurt him, but it sounds like he's going to use him as a pawn or something."_ If that was the case, Caroline feared what it would happen to him.

A familiar feeling washed over Lake, and she felt her hands curl into fists. She wanted to find the two gorillas and warn Red about McCullough, but she knew nothing of what the colonel was planning and she didn't even know _where_ in the base Red and Winter were. Much to her disappointment, there was nothing she could do to protect them until McCullough did whatever he planned to do.

* * *

Somehow, Koba had managed to sit still while Ellie stitched up his cuts. Both humans thought he'd at least protest against getting stitches, but he didn't even do that. The scarred bonobo just sat quietly and stared at the ground, keeping his gaze away from the needle as Ellie poked and pulled it in and out of his skin. Detached from the pain.

"Aren't I hurting you?" Asked Ellie as she made another stitch.

"Use to it." Koba lazily muttered in reply. He was actually too troubled to feel any pain. He couldn't understand why he'd harm himself like that when he no longer wanted to. It was as though he had betrayed himself.

Tori had wanted to be with him while he got the stitches for moral support but Koba didn't want her to. He knew that if she did, he'd see the concern in her eyes and that alone would make him feel worse, possibly even make him cry. He couldn't even look at Ellie because he could feel her worry every time she looked at him.

It was only when he felt his skin get pulled by one of the stitches that he flinched. "Sorry." Said Ellie as she tied a small knot. "Almost done, I just need to bandage them to keep the stitches dry."

Koba really didn't feel like talking, but he knew that if he didn't Ellie would worry more so he just nodded.

"So…" Ellie grabbed some white bandages and began wrapping it around one of Koba's arms. "Tell me about this nightmare you had last night." When Tori pulled her out of the file room, Ellie knew something was wrong. The younger woman had explained to her what had happened and that Koba felt like he needed help but Ellie wanted to know more.

Koba still avoided her gaze. "…Blood…Everywhere…Fill up room…" He suddenly tasted blood and realized he had been bitting at his lip the whole time. "The…Human…Who killed…Mother. He there too…"

It took a moment for Ellie to remember their names. Tina, his mother, and Roger. The man who killed her. According to the files, Koba and his sister were about a year old at the time but the event had obviously traumatized both of them.

"Did anything happen yesterday that would have reminded you of them?" She asked.

"No…Not really…" Koba did a full rewind of what happened the previous day in his mind. Not once was Roger ever mentioned, but…His father. "My father…Asked about my mother…He still. Hates. Humans."

Given what Carlos had been through, it didn't surprise Ellie that he'd feel that way. Even though his attack on the nurse was believed to be a mental breakdown or something related to his drug and alcohol withdrawal, Ellie still wasn't fully convinced that was the case. Oddly enough, Ellie hadn't seen that nurse since yesterday.

 _Wait a minute._ She realized. Koba sleeps in the same room as Carlos. He see's him every morning and every night, both he and his sister have to help him get out of his delusions and get him to go to sleep. Carlos had to know by now that both of his children had suffered at the hands of humans and that Tina was killed by one of them. That alone could make him hate humans more than he already did. Was it possible he openly talked about it with Koba? And, inadvertently, caused him to have this nightmare?

"Does he ever talk about it?"

"Only. When. He angry." Koba had never considered his father a danger to the humans, but after the attack in the room, he didn't know what to think anymore. He still highly doubted Carlos would actually take a gun and shoot at them though.

"Koba." Ellie hesitated. "Do you think, maybe, your father asking about your mother and his 'hating humans talk' could have provoked this?"

Koba didn't know what to say. How could his father be to blame for his nightmare? He had the same rage as him, and hated humans with all of his being, that was obvious. But Carlos' anger ran deeper than from just abuse. They didn't ruin his life because he didn't have one to ruin, unless one could call mating without love, never knowing any of his children and being high on whatever the colonel forced in his system a life at all. It scared him that his father harbored that rage, but that couldn't be enough to make him have nightmares, can it?

"…Don't know…" He said as he drew his now bandaged right arm close to himself. Knowing the wound he inflicted on himself will scar over the one humans gave him first. He'll never forgive himself for giving himself these scars. Let alone, be proud of them.

"Hay." Ellie put her hand on his shoulder. "The fact that you want help means you don't really want to hurt yourself."

"Then...Why did. I do it?"

"I don't know, but that's why we're going to get you some help." Ellie gave a reassuring smile. "It will be alright, we'll figure this out." She held Koba's larger hand in hers when she finished bandaging his left arm. "You're going to be ok."

Ellie was the third person to say that. Tori had said that in the jail cell, but it was Mary who said it first. Koba could no longer put a face to the familiar name, but he still remembered the happy, gentle tone of Mary's voice. It was hard to think about her; her memory brought Koba back to a happier time. Back when all he knew was hugs and tickles and games. _You're going to a nice place, with nice people._ She had hugged him and Dolly when she told them that. It was a hug that Koba had tried to give himself back in the labs. No one would hold him, so he'd hold himself. But he learned quickly that hugs are cold and lonely when there's no one to hold him. _You're going to be ok._

Mary lied. Koba and Dolly _didn't_ go to a nice place. They _didn't_ meet nice people. They were _not_ ok.

Koba gave no indication of what he was thinking or how he felt. Perhaps he just didn't feel like talking anymore, or maybe thinking about it made his head spin and left him feeling sick. Whatever the reason, he answered with just a nod and hoped that Ellie was right.

* * *

Rocket hadn't left his son's side all night and didn't plan to that day either. Ash had nightmares about what he went through in the base throughout the night and would only calm down when his father held him. That's why, instead of joining the others like usual, Rocket stayed in the infirmary with Ash. The near hairless chimpanzee was sitting on the bed with the younger ape snuggled in his arms. Ash was no longer crying or shaking, but now stared off into space. His mind elsewhere, but hopefully not thinking about the Breaking Room.

As hard as it was to see Ash like this, he was better now than he was when he woke up from being tranquilized. When the teenage ape saw his father that day, he screamed and didn't want to be near him. It broke Rocket's heart, but it also scared him because it gave him an idea of how his son suffered and it was worse than he could have imagined. The one thing Rocket feared more than losing his only child was Ash seeing the human's dark side. The side that he and all the other adults had always warned him about. But Ash had seen it-a very darker form of it, and Rocket couldn't protect him from it.

"…Fff…Father…" Rocket stiffened at the shaking voice. It was rare for Ash to actually speak but he hadn't uttered a word since before he was taken.

"Are. You alright?" As much as it relieved Rocket to finally hear Ash's voice, it pained him to listen.

Ash pulled away from the warmth of his father's touch, his gaze turned away. He wasn't crying, but he was sniffling and rubbing his nose on his arm. Rocket didn't press him, only waiting patiently for his son to say anything again.

Slowly, with hesitant hands, the young chimpanzee signed: _"…I…I had…Did you…"_ Tears began to blur his vision as Ash couldn't find the right words to sign. How could he ask such a horrible thing?

 _"_ _You, what?"_ Rocket asked as he touched his son's shoulder.

Ash couldn't look at his father. He felt like he was going to start crying again if he did. He knew his father wouldn't judge him if he did, but Ash also knew that he would't be able to ask him his question if he started crying.

"Ash." Rocket's voice, the voice that always told Ash he was safe, made him look at his father.

Rocket's eyes were soft, despite the worry in them. _"I'm your father."_ Rocket's hands moved with gentleness. As if he were stroking the air with his hands. _"You can tell me anything."_

It was enough to make Ash cry again. He grabbed Rocket the second he felt the older chimp pull him into an embrace.

Bitter nostalgia washed over Rocket. There were times when Ash was younger when he had needed his father, but never like this. Even if he didn't though, Rocket was no stranger to offering comfort to someone he loved that needed it. The near hairless chimpanzee had no memory of his parents or his origins aside from his old cage in the primate shelter, but he did remember that he had siblings. The one he remembered the most vividly was Dash, the one that Ash was partially named after. But even Dah's memory alluded him.

Rocket remembered Dash's brown, primitive eyes and the white spot on his nose. He remembered that he had to comfort him and take care of him even though Dash was older than him by a good eight years. Most of all, he remembered that something had happened to his older brother. This was as far as the memory went. Try as he might, Rocket couldn't remember anything else. One minute, he and his brother were in the same cage together and the next, Dash was gone and Rocket himself was in a different cage in a different place and he never saw his brother again. As if the world had swallowed him.

There were times when Rocket thought his brother was only a dream, but every time he considered that, he'd remember all the times Dash hugged him when he was scared. The feeling of that hug, was too real to be a figment of his imagination. Too real to have been a dream. Perhaps this was why his son's name came from Dash. So that part of his memory would still live on. Real or not.

Ash suddenly pulled away. Tears still ran down his face, but he dried them away with his arm. Then, without looking at him, he asked _. "Did you try to kill me?"_

Rocket's heart stopped. _"What?!"_

Barely suppressing his whimpers, Ash kept signing. _"Humans in base hurt me...Every time they did, I'd remember things...Things that scare me."_

Rocket was crushed. Is this what the humans were doing to him in the breaking room?! "Ash-!" Rocket breathed in, trying to calm the pain he felt. No, not _physical_ pain. The emotion he felt hurt like it was though. "You. Attacked. By wolf. When younger."

This was a day Rocket remembered as vividly as if it were yesterday. It was the day he almost lost his son. Ash was playing in the grass and a wolf, foaming at the mouth, suddenly appeared and chased him. Rocket had managed to get between them, grabbed Ash and climbed a tree to safety. Caesar, Koba, Pope, and all the other Ape Army soldiers ambushed the wolf and threw arrows and spears at it until it died, then they burned it's body. Even though no one had ever been bitten by one, the entire colony knew that a bite from a foaming wolf or another animal meant insanity and certain death. They knew this from apes who had lived in zoos and those that came from the wild and had seen rabid animals attack was a name to this disease, spoken only in hushed tones and concealed signs because it was so feared by the apes. Rabies. No one, not even Koba or Pope, would dare to fight an animal with the disease.

Ash had not been bitten by the wolf, but it had scared Rocket so much that he never let Ash go into the forest alone. To this day, he still doesn't let Ash go without someone with him. Ash never minded this, but only because it was always Blue Eyes that he went with.

Ash sniffled, rubbing his face and winced in slight pain. He had been rubbing like that so much that his eyes began to hurt. The young chimpanzee was barely a year old at the time of the attack. Too young to remember the wolf, but he remembered the snarling sounds it made. Apes don't sound like that. The memory itself, as vaguely as it was, was different than the image of his father attacking him and trying to kill him. That image was clear... _Too_ clear to be a memory from his early childhood.

The realization seemed to hit both apes at once. That memory wasn't just fake…It was also a tool for manipulation, created by the AO soldiers to create monsters out of innocent apes. It was that false memory, and all others like it, that drove Ash to attack and attempt to kill his own parents. Not out of hate, but out of controlled madness.

This time, when Ash hugged Rocket again, there was some relief in him. His father wasn't the one that attacked him all those years ago. There was no betrayal. His father was still his father. But there was still so much he didn't understand. Why did those soldiers brain wash him like that? He never did anything to them! Was it because he was ape? Did they have a grudge against his parents and the other older apes somehow?

Rocket, however, only felt one thing…Now he understood what Koba and Pope probably feel for bad humans like these soldiers, because now he wanted to kill them all too. It didn't matter that the soldiers had tried to turn his only son and child into a murderer, but that they had hurt him. Tortured him in was that will haunt the young chimpanzee for the rest of his life.

 _They won't get away with this._ Rocket thought bitterly. _If I ever see those soldiers, I'll kill them all._

* * *

Pope hadn't slept well at all. Every time he'd close his eyes and drifted to sleep, he'd find himself trapped in a nightmare he could only escape from by waking up. Only to find that he had woken Dot in the process. Though he did dream about his past, Pope mostly saw Hazell in them. The dreams always started out with Pope surrounded by thick fog and not knowing where he was or why he was there. Then he'd feel the chill of Rowena's glare come from all directions. It was as though that primitive orangutan had become the mist itself, and was now watching his every move. Seeing his _wickedness._ But then, he'd turn his head and see Hazell standing there when he swore she wasn't there before. Hazell, with blood running down her face from the bullet wound that killed her, would then say: "What are you fighting for, Pope?"

That question left Pope shaking all day. In the brief time he knew Hazell, he never told her about Caesar and the colony. Let alone the fact that he had been scheming ways to overthrow the Ape King and kill all his followers and all the humans in the world…So how could Hazell have known about it?…No, she _couldn't_ have known it…The only ones who knew of his old desire to kill Caesar were Bon and Rex, and they weren't even at the base and Pope never told anyone else about it.

The more Pope thought about it, the more he began to realize it wasn't what Hazell asked in his nightmare that got under his skin so much but rather, the fact she was in his dreams at all. The scarred chimpanzee hadn't known her long enough to form any sort of friendship with her, so why did she haunt him?

 _You saw her die._ He reminded himself as he stared at the ceiling. _You saw Preacher shoot her…And you saw what happened to her daughter._

Though he would not admit it, it was becoming clear to Pope that witnessing the murder of Hazell's daughter had effected him more than he thought. It was one thing to want the entire human race dead and overthrow Caesar. But Harmony was a newborn baby. The most innocent and the most harmless being imaginable, human, ape or hybrid.

Now, Pope found himself unable to think about Hopely without feeling like he should have done something to save his mother and sister, but there was nothing he could have done. It all happened so fast and even if Pope had intervened, he would have been killed too.

He sighed and began to rub his left ear, the one that was scarred. Ever since he got these scars, the outer layer of Pope's ear would ache whenever he was thinking too much about something that troubled him. This is how he developed the habit of rubbing it.

Dot, who was playing with something she found on the table next to their bed, noticed it and put whatever that black thing was, back on the table as looked at him. She couldn't help but look at his scars, the way they curled around his face, head, shoulder, arm and neck. They seemed old, like they had been there for years though Dot knew he wasn't born with them. No, these marks came from a human.

Carefully, with a touch as soft as a feather, she touched them with the tips of her fingers.

Pope immediately flinched at the unexpected touch. No other ape has ever touched his scars before, so he instinctively felt the urge to punch whoever it was. He had just curled his right hand into a fist when he turned around and realized it was only Dot. Pope released his fist. He couldn't hit Dot, even if he wanted to.

Dot had pulled her hand away when Pope moved, thinking she had startled him. She didn't realize he had almost hit her. _"Do they hurt?"_ She asked.

The fishnet scarred chimpanzee felt as though he were exposed. As if Dot had somehow found a hole in him and now could see his vulnerability and his weakness. But he trusted her. She had to be the first, and only, ape Pope really trusted. Deeper than the trust that comes with any friendship. _"Only my ear."_ He admitted. _"It hurts when I'm stressed."_

 _"_ _Is that why you're rubbing it like that?"_

Pope didn't answer because he realized at that moment that he had let Hazell take over all of his thoughts. At this rate, he may rub his ear to the point of irritation if he doesn't stop. _"Do you remember Hazell?"_ He asked, deciding it was better to talk about it then take it out on his skin.

She and Hazell had never met. It was Dot being a broken slave and Hazell being a rebel forced servant that prevented them from having any interaction between them. But Dot _did_ remember her. She remembered her as the dead female ape the soldiers put in the flying machine, not realizing she and Pope, Milo, Carlos, Hopely, and Spazz were hiding inside, and fearfully expecting to be killed like her at any second.

 _"_ _Yes…Did you know her?"_

 _"_ _Not really. I met her when the colonel made me his servant."_ Pope replayed that day in his mind, trying to remember if he had mentioned anything personal to the rebels. All he could think of was Rowena, and her glare. _Don't be fooled by him, Hazell. I was in the same cell as him for days. He's been scheming, I don't know what, but he is wicked on the inside._ Wicked. What does that mean? And how can elderly, primitive ape sense that in him? _"She and her rebels were the ones who helped me free you."_

 _That's_ how he saved her. Not surprisingly. Pope would have needed help to get her and himself out of the base. Dot may never have attempted to escape herself, but she had seen how tight the security was. The only escape in that base was death. _"They're brave to rebel in that place."_ A thought came to her. _"Are they the ones troubling you?"_

Though it was only Hazell that haunted him, Pope felt as if he could never shake Rowena's glaring eyes. He wondered if they'd follow him for the rest of his days as a curse. _"Just Hazell…I keep having dreams about her…All bloody and standing next to me."_

Dot knew the kind of dreams he was talking about. They were similar to the dreams she sometimes had of Thyme, or of Remy. _"Does she ever say anything?"_

 _"_ _Yes."_ Pope was surprised she guessed that. _"She always asks me what I'm fighting for."_

That's a weird thing for a dead person to ask. Whenever Dot dreamt of her lost family, they rarely ever said anything to her, let alone ask her something like that…But…Wait. Dot never questioned where or how Pope got his scars-it didn't matter, the mark of cruelty done by humans didn't need explaining, but now she suddenly wondered how Pope got his fishnet scars. Those were not from a whip, and a blade couldn't possibly make that design on it's own.

"…Pope…" Dot's voice dripped with concern. "…How…You get. Scars?"

Numbness was all he felt. Perhaps Pope was detaching himself from all feeling, or maybe it would come later. Either way, he was just glad it was Dot who asked about his scars and only Dot in the room. The fishnet scarred chimpanzee never thought he'd tell anyone about what happened to him. He always believed he'd keep his past a secret, something he'd take with him when he dies...A piece of his weaker side that he did not want the world to know...

But Dot was different...She was like him back then...Another ape who needed saving.

 _"_ _...I grew up in labs."_ Pope hoped he could stay detached for this. _"I never knew other apes as a child...They used to keep me in a big cage, with only a giant, stuffed bear...They'd give me food every day, but I'd only eat when I was starving...I didn't want to leave that bear,"_

Dot stayed still. Her eyes focusing on Pope and his signs, already dreading what he'd say next.

Pope breathed slowly. His ear was aching again, but he ignored it. _"One night...A group of humans came and took me out of my cage...They brought me outside...They smelled funny and had bottles in their hands...Some of them had lighters..."_ Pope couldn't stand it any longer, he rubbed ear, which was now burning. The whole scarred part of his body felt achy all of the sudden. _"They...They burned the wire fence until the metal was white...Then they..."_ Pope tried to keep signing, but he was shaking too much. He felt as if the pain he felt that night was back.

"Pope?" Dot was becoming alarmed.

"They...P-Pressed...Pope...Against it." Pope rasped. He felt the sting of tears before he knew he was weeping. He dried the tears away, feeling like he wanted to scream.

He felt Dot hug him, and he immediately returned the embrace. He needed someone to hang on to right now. He didn't flinch when he felt tears soak his fur, expecting them to be his own but knowing they may be Dot's for all he knew.

"...D-Dot...Born in Zoo." Said Dot through her own tears, "...N-Never knew. Bad humans. Until. Base." She squeezed him in her embrace. "Wish you. Were-Were there too. Would have. B-Been. Happier. In zoo. G-Good humans there."

For a brief moment, Pope envied Dot. She grew up surrounded by apes and all of them were completely ignorant of how horrible humans could be. He wished he had had that life. As sheltered as it was, Pope knew he would have been so much more than just happy.

When he finally felt better enough to sign more, he said: _"I feared humans ever since that night...Then I started to hate them...I still hate them. That's why I beat up Koba the other day. I saw his friendship with Tori a betrayal. He of all apes should know how cruel humans could be."_

 _"_ _I don't like humans either, Pope."_ Signed Dot as she sniffled. _"I'm scared of all of them...But I don't hate them. Not all of them are bad."_ She gestured to the door. _"The ones here aren't bad. You told me that when we came here."_ Out loud, she said: "Pope safe here."

"I know." Said Pope. Even though he hadn't touched his scars, they were no longer aching. The burning he felt under his skin was gone. "So is Dot."

* * *

Koba stared at the floor the entire time Tori walked with him. It was easier to watch the marks in the old tile move than looking anywhere else. Despite knowing he was safe, Koba felt like the walls were closing in on him. The hallways felt narrower than he remembered and when they went up the stairs, Koba felt like something was going to grab him at any second. This was why he felt relived that Tori was with him. Even if she didn't say anything at all, her company made the brink of panic feeling go away.

Tori didn't show it, but she was on edge too. She kept side glancing at the bonobo and eyeing his arms. Even though they were bandaged, she could still see the blood. It felt like the image of Koba running to her and bleeding would never leave her, no matter how hard she tried to block the memory out.

"Koba…" She croaked as she fully looked at him. When his eyes met hers, Tori found herself taking a good, long look at the scarred bonobo. From his scars, his black and bits of graying fur, to his green and milky eyes.

Koba was a survivor, Tori knew that. He had lived through hell, and had the scars to prove it. He was shorter than her by only two inches, but he was stronger than her. Strong enough to beat a man to death. He would have broken her neck and killed her if Blue Eyes hadn't stopped him, but that was what he was: powerful and fearsome. But now, standing in the hallway of the infirmary and just feet away from his door, Tori could see something had changed. Maybe Koba was already changing when she met him, or maybe it was buried deep within his being that was only now reaching the surface, but she saw it as clear as day.

How could anyone so strong look so fragile? Or so frightening look so afraid? And how could scars look like open wounds?

 _"_ _Do you feel safe in that room?"_ Her throat felt too dry to ask out loud.

Koba glanced at the door and then back at her. _"I think so…My father and sister are in there and they won't let anything happen to me."_ The room itself was safe. There wasn't anything Koba, whether he meant to or not, could use to hurt himself with. Even if Carlos decides to rant about humans, Dolly could make him feel more at ease.

Tori knew this too, but it didn't make her feel any better. _"What if you were left by yourself?"_ She pressed on. _"Would you feel safe if you were alone?"_

That question wasn't just hard, but it was also one that Koba tried to avoid. Each time he had harmed himself, he had been alone. The first time, he had done it consciously and had wanted to die but this time he didn't realize he had done it. Nor did he want to do it. How could he feel safe alone when he can't even trust himself?

 _"…_ _I don't know…"_ He answered with hesitant signs.

Tori bit her lip, feeling cold on the inside. Choking her. The whole time she was washing off the sand from her skin and changing out of her swimsuit and into her regular clothes, Tori had been worrying about the bonobo. She knew her father had abused them differently, but it wasn't just her father that hurt Koba. There were other humans who abused him too, each one leaving a mark on the bonobo's skin. And now she was beginning to realize that Koba's scars ran deeper than what showed on the surface. His blind eye and the scar running down over it, the scar on his neck, the one on his forearm and all the other scars on his body were just the ones that can been seen. His other scars, the most serious and worst ones, were hidden.

Taking in a breath and letting it out in a shaky sigh, Tori pulled Koba into a tight hug. She suddenly felt this need to hold him, to feel his furry, muscled body against hers. The feeling was similar to that panicky, earth shattering feeling she used to feel as a little girl when she feared she'd lose her mother. She needed this to let her know that he was still here. Still alive and not just a memory. That she didn't lose him.

Koba wasn't expecting to suddenly be hugged, but he found himself unable to move. Frozen by Tori's arms. He could feel her bury her face into his shoulder. _What is she…?_

Koba's eyes widened when he felt something cold and wet suddenly drip on his skin and dampen his fur. Shortly after, he heard a sniffle come from her.

"Tori?" Koba wrapped his arms around her as he returned the embrace, shocked. He knew Tori was worried about him, but he didn't expect this from her. Did he really worry her enough to actually make her cry?

Tori didn't answer him. She just held on to the bonobo, letting the black fur tickle her nose as she breathed in the pine smell that lingered on him. Koba's fur wasn't very soft, but feeling it gave her comfort. She wished it could stay like this. Koba in her embrace, safe from all harm and her knowing no one can hurt either of them anymore. All the while, the rest of the world stands still as it stops moving.

But at some point, all hugs must break apart. Tori rubbed her face, trying to dry the tears away.

"Sorry." She croaked in a cracking voice. "I hate losing people...And I don't want to lose you."

"Tori-"

"Just promise me you won't hurt yourself again." Tori's voice was almost pleading. "If you ever feel unsafe like that, tell me. If not me, then one of the others."

Koba just stared at her. The only person who had ever been this worried about him was Dolly, but she was his sister and a fellow ape. Koba wasn't used to a human worrying this much about him and it left him feeling confused. "Koba promise." He said, and he meant it.

Tori sighed. Letting the thickness she felt go. "Good." She breathed. "I'm going to go back to the others. If you need anything, you know where to find me."

"Tori, wait."

Tori turned to look at him, meeting his eyes. Despite drying her face, tears still glistened in Tori's eyes. Koba could only bite at his lip with the tips of his teeth. The only thing he ever hated more than humans was this feeling that would come whenever he was confused and didn't know what to do. Luckily, he only felt this feeling when he was around other bonobos. Koba didn't _dislike_ his own kind, more like didn't understand them and their craziness. Sometimes he found it hard to believe he and his sister shared the same species with a bunch of gossipy, crazy, and literal 'mate-hoping' apes when he and Dolly didn't share that behavior nor had any interest in it…But Koba never felt this kind of confusion with any other ape, let alone with a human.

Too unsure to speak, he signed: _"Why are you so worried about me?…I know you are, but I didn't mean to make you cry."_

 _"_ _Not your fault."_ Signed Tori. _"I'm worried because…"_ Her hands froze.

Koba wasn't sure what this meant, but before he could say anything, Tori sighed. Her next words would shock him. "Because you're the only good thing that has happened to me in so long."

* * *

Malcolm hadn't seen Ellie since that morning. Now that it was later in the day, about noon, he was wondering where she was. He had just entered one of the hallways of the infirmary when he heard Ellie's voice come from one of the other rooms. He was about to go inside, when...

"What's his name?"Asked a voice Malcolm didn't recognize.

"Koba."

Koba? Their talking about Koba? Come to think of it, Malcolm hadn't seen the one eyed bonobo all day. Curious, he stood by the door and listened.

"What kind of ape is he?"

"Bonobo."

"Do you know how old he is?"

"Hmm, maybe twenty-six? He was born in 2000, and he was sixteen at the time he and the apes escaped the city."

"Aside from his blind eye, do you know if he has any allergies or health problems?"

"He's allergic to the drug ingredient Phialaziphine. They experimented it on him back at Gen-Sys and he had a severe allergic reaction and they had to remove his appendix and gull bladder. I don't think it caused any long term problems though."

There was a brief silence and Malcolm realized whoever Ellie was talking to was probably taking notes.

"Ok, I have one more question: To your knowledge, does he have a history of violence or suicidal behavior or attempts?"

Violence? Suicidal behavior? What are they talking about in there?

Ellie took a minute before answering. "...Violence yes, suicidal I'm not sure...He did attempt to kill Caesar, the leader of the apes, and start a war with humans. I don't know of any other suicide attempts before the one in the jail."

"Ellie, I have to ask. Do you think Koba is a danger to humans or to other apes?"

"No. Not anymore."

"Do you think he's a danger to himself?"

"…That I don't know. He doesn't want to hurt himself, but I'm afraid he might do it unintentionally."

Silence for a minute again.

"Alrighty, I'll talk to my psychiatrists and see if any of them will take his case. If not, then I can see him. Until then, make sure he's in a calm, safe environment."

"Ok thank you, Mike. That means a lot." Ellie was probably about to open the door when she suddenly said: "Oh! One more thing. Koba is fluent in Sign Language. He speaks verbally but I think he's more comfortable in Sign Language."

"Not a problem Ellie, me and all my psychiatrists know ASL too."

"Oh good! Thank you." That was when Ellie walked out of the room and saw Malcolm as the door closed behind her. "Malcolm." She gasped in surprise.

"What happened?" Asked Malcolm. "What's going on with Koba?"

Ellie sighed, letting the heaviness in her chest settle. She had a feeling Malcom, or one of the others, would eventually ask that. She didn't think to ask Koba if he'd like them to know about his latest brush with suicide, but she supposed they'd have to know regardless. "Come with me." She said as she took Malcolm's hand.

"Where are we-?" Malcolm didn't get a chance to finish asking before his question got answered when Ellie pulled him into a random supplies closet.

"Koba tried to hurt himself again." Ellie said as soon as they're alone.

Malcolm's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"

"He had a nightmare about his past and then he had a blackout. When he woke up, he had deep cuts on his arms."

"Blackout?…Are you saying he wasn't in control of himself when he-?"

"God, I don't know Malcolm." Ellie ground out, feeling frustrated with the whole thing. "Koba is scared, he doesn't understand why he did this anymore than I do. He wants help, so I was just talking with Mike, who used to run a psychiatric clinic that specialized in PTSD and other disorders that may attribute to it. Some of his psychiatrists are still around, so maybe they can help him."

Malcolm could barely wrap his mind around this. He knew Koba wasn't better, but he didn't think he'd hurt himself again either. Maybe they should have gone to Mike sooner. Maybe the very day after Koba's suicide attempt in the jail they should have gotten him that help. But things kept happening and now, Malcolm felt like Koba's problems had gotten worse without anyone realizing it...Did that mean it was too late to help him?

"...So where is he now?" He asked in a calmer voice. Hoping the scarred bonobo was ok.

"I had Tori walk him back to his room. As far as I know, he's with his father and sister right now."

That sounded like a good place for him. In a familiar room with people who love him most of all. Malcolm hoped that was enough to keep Koba safe, for now anyway...And if he's in that room, then whoever sent that message can't get to him either, right?

"Are you ok?" Ellie had noticed the look on his face.

Malcolm hesitated before realizing there was no point in keeping it a secret from her. Besides, if there really is someone watching them, not telling Ellie may do more harm than good. "After you left, Foster found something...Ellie, someone's watching us."

Ellie blinked at him in disbelief. "What? Watching us?"

"Watching us and Foster, and Maurice, and Blue Eyes and-and everyone else. I don't know how long it's been going on but, whoever it is, knows who we are and where we go every day." Even as he explained it, Malcolm could feel how dangerous this situation was. There was still no way of knowing what this person's intentions were, but if they knew as much about the group as Malcolm feared, then that person could easily do them harm if they wanted to.

Ellie looked at him with shock, which then melted to fear and worry. "Show me." She rasped. It wasn't that she wanted to see that message, but rather she _needed_ to see it. If only to make sense of this new, possible threat.

* * *

Red, completely unaware that he was being watched by the colonel's camera, was trying to keep himself awake and was losing the battle. Since the hallway had no windows, there was no way of knowing whether it was day or night, so he and Winter had been awake for hours. When Winter started to get sleepy, Red offered to keep watch so the albino could sleep for a little while.

 _Idiot._ He scolded himself. _You need your rest too, what makes him so special?_ Despite his annoyance at Winter, Red knew he was the one who had suggested it and he had good reason to. He knew that if Winter had to keep watch first, he'd most likely jump at every sound he hears and even if the hallway remained empty, that didn't mean Winter wouldn't be too scared to protect himself or Red. No, it _had_ to be Red to take the first watch.

The red furred gorilla was literally about to fall asleep when a poke from Winter startled him awake. _"Did any soldiers come?"_ Despite actually getting some sleep, Winter looked tired but not tired enough to not be scared.

 _"_ _No. Did you sleep well?"_

 _"_ _Not really. I wish I could lay down."_

Technically, McCullough never said anything about sleeping when he brought them here. He didn't say they couldn't lay down on the floor if they wanted to, but both gorillas were too cautious of whatever the consequences for doing so could be to do it so Winter ended up sleeping while standing up. Even though Red hadn't fallen asleep himself, his legs and back ached from hours of standing.

"Red? Winter? Still there?" Came Rose's voice from the other side of the door.

Sometimes, Rose would come closer to the door and talk to them for a bit. Talking was always awkward, since they could only verbally speak and Winter and Red hardly ever used their voices and Rose, despite being better at speaking than they were, struggled to pronounce some of her words. But talking filled the otherwise silent halls with noise and that was better than not having it.

"Yes. Still here." Red wondered if they were even allowed to talk to her. He and the other Gorilla Guardians didn't talk to the human called Malcolm when he came to the gates of the village, but that was different. He was an intruder to their home, a possible threat to the apes. Rose was just a child that McCullough kept locked away for unknown reasons.

For some reason, thinking about Malcolm and the humans in the city made Red's blood boil. He knew it wasn't Malcolm's fault the Alpha-Omegas invaded the Ape Village and took him and Winter away but ever since those humans first showed up in the forest, nothing good has happened. He wanted to blame them for everything. That none of this would have happened if the humans in the city weren't still there. It was just easier that way, but it was wrong. For all Red knew, the colonel and the soldiers probably would have came to the forest whether the apes knew there were still humans or not.

"You…Ok, Rose?" Asked Winter. He knew no one had been in that room since he and Red met the small bonobo, but that didn't mean she was alright. The room wasn't a cage, but it minus well be.

"Yes." There was a brief silence before Rose asked: "What it like?…Where you…Come from?"

Red and Winter looked at each other. They hadn't expected her to ask about their home but then again, why wouldn't she? For all they knew, she never seen a forest in her entire life.

"It a forest." Said Red. "Big trees. Lakes, rivers...Apes build village there."

"Any...H-hue mans?"

"No humans. Only apes." Red found himself thinking about all the apes in the colony. He may not have liked Caesar's rule, but the apes who lived under it were all good people and he had nothing against them. He didn't even resent Lake, despite her being close to Blue Eyes. They all lived freely, with no humans to dictate their lives or cages to limit their world. With the sun to warm them during the day, endless trees to climb, fresh air to breathe, and stars to gaze up at at night. Children Rose's age would spend all day playing and conquering the forest, ignoring their parents stories of the past as they did.

Rose was about to ask another question, when the sound of a door opening and closing startled the three apes into silence. Red and Winter heard shuffling behind Rose's door, and knew the little bonobo had ran deeper into her room. Possibly to hide under her blanket. Footsteps echoed in the hallway, coming closer to them. Red stiffened, unsure what to do. Winter was trying to hide his fear, but was doing a terrible job at it.

Three soldiers appeared from the corner and walked right up to them. One of them had a blindfold and the other had a syringe. "The Colonel wants to see you." The one who only had a gun on him, possibly the leader of the trio, was facing the two gorillas-but he had his gaze directly at Red.

Red didn't have time to react, the blindfold was on his face in seconds. The instinct to fight back and run screamed at him but Red knew better and just let the soldiers lead him away. "You stay here." He heard the lead soldier say to Winter.

Red turned his head in the direction of where Winter was, but couldn't see him due to the blindfold. "Don't! Be! Afraid!" He called out from the hallway. Red felt like he should say something more, but that was all he had time to say before he felt the sting of the needle as it penetrated the skin on his shoulder and felt himself start to fall asleep. The only thing he could think was: _At least I get some sleep now._

"Red!" Winter cried after he heard those three words. His heart pounded as he heard the soldier's footsteps disappear, taking Red with them.

He was alone. For the first time since being kidnapped, he was all alone…Alone in an unknown location with only the ceiling lights and the thick walls to offer protection. But Winter felt exposed, naked without protection from whatever could be lurking just around the corner. Winter glanced from left to right, feeling as if the walls themselves were closing in on him. As if the shadows were reaching for him. His breathing became quicker and he pressed himself into the wall and began to rock.

He and Red were never friends before all this happened and it probably wasn't fair for the shorter gorilla to have Winter leaning on him for protection when Red needed it just as much as the albino himself did.

But Winter wasn't Red. Red could take care of himself. Red isn't afraid of anything…He's not a coward like Winter is…And even if Red couldn't keep him safe, his company was enough to make Winter feel like he was.

"Winter?"

Winter nearly jumped out of his skin. His eyes darted as he looked around, but didn't see anything. _Is this place haunted?!_

"Winter? What…What ha-happened?"

Rose…It was Rose! The bonobo was too young and too small to offer him any protection, but she was here with him! He wasn't really alone! Winter breathed a sigh of relief, finding comfort in the child's company.

As he calmed down, Winter's fear turned from his own safety to Red's. Why did the soldiers take him? What is the colonel going to do with him? "…They…Took…Red…" He panted as the severity of the situation settled in.

Rose, meanwhile, tilted her head at the gorilla's words. Soldiers always came down here. Sometimes to stand outside the door, and other times to walk by it. No one that walked through these hallways never stayed long, but some always came back-like the man with holes in his face.

"When will…He…C-Come. back?" She asked. Rose had only known the two gorillas for a short time, but she liked them. Many people came and went, but they were the first to actually talk to her. The only other person to do that was the man with holes in his face, but only to ask her questions about other peoples dreams and then he'd give her a treat. Then he'd leave, but he'd always come back.

 _Not when._ Winter thought. _Will._ The real question here, was _will_ Red come back…And if not, then…? Winter inhaled and exhaled slowly as he realized he many never see Red again. _What's going to happen to him?_

"I…Don't know." _Don't be afraid._ Red's words weighed heavily in Winter's head. He blinked and the sting of tears hurt his eyes. Mentally, he promised: _I'll try…But stay alive, Red…Please don't leave me here._

* * *

 _The colonel wants to see you…_ Preacher stiffened as the very words said to him were repeated in the hallways outside his door. He had replayed those words nearly a hundred times in his head, but hearing them spoken by a voice that didn't belong to his memory made his heart stop.

 _Flashback:_

 _The holding chamber always gave Preacher goosebumps. The long hallway was like a maze and each footstep taken on it's floor echoed and sounded like light slamming. Every time he had the displeasure of visiting this place, Preacher would focus on whatever his orders were and pretend he wasn't standing within feet of frightened apes and just over the heads of the humans who'd never see the light of day again._

 _Today, it was different. McCullough had called him here and requested that he'd come alone. The short walk to the furthest room in the holding chambers felt longer than usual. McCullough hadn't told him why he had called him down here or what was going on. Just to meet him in the single holding cell._

 _He hesitated before knocking on the door. "Sir?"_

 _"_ _Come in, Preacher."_

 _He opened the door. McCullough, wearing his army fatigues, was standing over an ape who's hands were chained behind it's back. Unlike all the other apes when brought to the holding chambers, this one wasn't chained to the wall._

IT. _That was how the soldiers were supposed to refer to an ape who's name they didn't know._ IT. _That was what the apes looked like to most of the soldiers. Not someone's child, not a wife, not a husband, not a mother or father, not a sibling, not a friend, not even a person. Just. An._ **IT.** _He understood why this was so, but it was a hard pill to swallow regardless._

 _He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Despite being careful, the door made a loud slam as it clicked back into place. Everything sounded loud here._

 _"_ _You wanted to see me, Sir?" He asked._

 _"_ _Yes." McCullough looked at him, his sunglasses hiding his eyes. Preacher hated those glasses. They made him feel intimidated by his own leader…Maybe that's why the colonel wore them so much. "Remember how supplies had been disappearing?"_

 _"_ _Yes, Sir." Food, water and medical supplies was limited and had been since the virus, but it was especially important out here with the everlasting coldness of winter and few warm days of spring, fall and summer. It made sense that everyone in the base wouldn't be happy to find their treasured inventories and infirmaries suddenly emptying with no known cause._

 _"_ _I think I've found our culprit." McCullough nodded at the ape._

 _Preacher glanced at the ape. He froze. The ape…Was the very female chimpanzee that had given him the apple!_

 _She looked back up at him, her glare meeting his in secret recognition. She wasn't afraid of him, he could tell. Why would she? He was just a soldier who couldn't even stand up for himself. Let alone be a threat to her. But McCullough was, and she wasn't afraid of him either. She looked at the colonel right in the eyes with no fear. Only disgust and anger, as if she were looking at something that crawled out of horse scat._

 _Preacher gulped. He didn't want to be in this room anymore._

 _"_ _Now then." Preacher stole himself and looked at the colonel. "I want you to interrogate her. Any and all information you get out of her, you tell me immediately."_

 _Preacher knew he was a sunken ship right then and there. Why the heck would McCullough have him do an interrogation when he couldn't even stop other soldiers from bullying him? It was an assignment that Preacher knew he'd fail, like that Chemistry project he had to do in eighth grade or that time his old high school friends dared him to do a handstand in twelfth grade. Though he now felt like he could do either one of those things better than actually intimidate someone to give him information. Even if it was an ape._

 _He didn't have much choice back then though. There was no getting out that Chemistry project unless Mr. Brown canceled it and Preacher's friends would have teased him if he didn't do the handstand, but in both situations he would have lived. Not obeying McCullough, however, could result in his death._

 _He reluctantly nodded his head. "Yes, Sir."_

 _"_ _Good." McCullough turned around and opened the door. But not before giving the soldier one last glance. "I'll check back with you in five hours."_

 _Preacher kept his stoic face until the colonel closed the door behind him. Then he sighed and gulped again. Feeling as though he may vomit on the spot. Thank goodness there are no cameras in the holding room. Otherwise, the entire base would see how weak and stupid he actually was._

 _He felt eyes on him, making him nervous. He turned around and saw the chimp staring at him. Her spring eyes looking right into his. How can an ape have eyes like that?_

How am I going to do this? _Preacher thought about all the tough guys in the base. The ones who knew how to get information out of their victims. What would they do?_

 _Taking a deep breath, he stepped closer to the chained ape. "I'm Preacher." He assumed this would be the easiest way to start. Ask the easy questions and building his way up to the harder ones. "What's your name?" Did she even have one?_

 _She continued to stare at him. Preacher wondered if she understood him at all. He was about to ask another question when she answered: "Hazell."_

 _Again, Preacher felt his inside bounce. He was still not used to apes talking to him, but how could her voice be so calming and yet so rasped?_

 _"_ _I'm from Wyoming. Small town, near the forest. I had to leave because of the virus." This was probably a bad idea. Ask and talk about personal stuff before the real interrogation…But Preacher knew he was stalling, he was just hoping Hazell didn't. "Where did you come from?"_

 _"_ _The. Wild." Hazell's eyes seemed to change then. She looked almost sad. "Taken. By humans. Put in zoo." She motioned with one hand their surroundings. "End up. Here."_

 _Now Preacher always knew all the apes originated from the wild somehow. If they weren't born there themselves, their parents or grandparents were. But he never knew which ones were born in zoo's or in labs, and which ones were born in the wild and he never actually talked to one of those wild-born apes. And now, despite everything he knew about the apes, Preacher found himself feeling bad for Hazell, and for all the other apes who had been ripped from their world in Africa. He wasn't supposed to feel sympathy, but he felt it like a pain in his chest._

 _Wait! What if she's manipulating him?! Trying to get into mind and turn him against his fellow soldiers?!_

 _"_ _Did you steel our supplies?" Preacher may not be the strongest human on this base, but he certainly wasn't the stupidest! He wasn't going to let Hazell and her sob story get to him so easily!_

 _"_ _Maybe." Hazell's eyes hardened. Her spring eyes still focused on him. It honestly sent chills down his back. "Maybe not."_

 _"_ _Answer me!" It took all of Preacher's strength to shout in that tone._

 _Hazell rolled her eyes at him. It was as if she could tell he wasn't good at this. "Humans. Always. Steel from apes. What difference. Does it make. If apes. Steel. From humans?"_

 _"_ _That's not the question!"_ But she's right. _Preacher didn't want to admit it, but there was some truth to Hazell's words. His fellow soldiers, scientists in labs, poachers in Africa, and who knows how many other humans,_ did _steel from the apes. They stole them away from their family and friends, their liberty, and in some cases, their lives. It seemed petty to be angry at them for steeling food when humans had stolen so much more than just fruit and bread from apes, but that wasn't how McCullough saw things._

 _"_ _Th-That apple you shared with me! Where did it come from?!"_

 _This time, he got a real answer. "From. Bag."_

 _"_ _Ah ha! So you admit you stole it!"_

 _"_ _I give. It. Back. To you." Despite him yelling at her, she was still calm. "Is that. Still. Stealing?"_

 _"_ _Yes! You ate half of it!"_

 _Hazell looked annoyed at him. "_ YOU _give me. Half."_

 _"_ _Yes, I-" Preacher's eyes widened when he realized he had forgotten that little detail. "Shit!" If Hazell had given him the apple, it was still stealing because she had taken it from the inventory. But if Preacher had given her half of it, was it still stealing?_

 _Preacher sighed in frustration. He was doing a horrible job at this. Boyle would have her begging for mercy by now if he was the one interrogating her._

 _Glancing back at Hazell, he asked: "Why did you give me that apple anyways?"_

 _Much to his surprise, Hazell shrugged her shoulders. He didn't know apes knew how to do that. "Preacher hungry." She said as she motioned to him. "Hazell hungry." She motioned to herself. "Equal to. Each other. Only difference. I had apple. I give it to you. Show kindness humans don't show to apes."_

 _"_ _Then why did I share it with you?" This question was more out of annoyance than for the sake of intimidating her._

 _Again, Hazell shrugged and turned her head away. "Don't know."_

 _"_ _Hay!" Preacher grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. He frowned at her. "You will look at me when I'm speaking to you! You didn't deserve that apple half! I don't know why I gave it to you! Soldiers never feed apes that kind of food!-"_

 _"_ _May-Be! You not real soldier!" Hazell shouted back at him._

 _Preacher, startled by the loud tone, jumped back. He stared at her as her words sunk in. Not a real soldier? What was that supposed to mean?! That he wasn't strong enough?! That he wasn't scary like the others?!_

 _"_ _I'll show you…!" He barked as he marched back to her until his face was inches from hers. "I'll show you I'm a real soldier!" He knew what he'd do. He'll interrogate her and torture her until he got all the information out of her. Until there's nothing left of her. He swore, on his gun, that he'd break her-no! That he'd DESTROY her!_

 _Hazell, despite the human shouting in her face…Despite his voice being loud enough to vibrate through her being…glared at him right in the eye. Showing no fear._

 _End of Flashback_

 _Not a real soldier._ At the time, Hazell probably said those words to get him to let go of her. A forced explanation for Preacher's decision. But now he knew, whether she meant it or not, that Hazell was both right and wrong.

Preacher _was_ a soldier. She was wrong about that. But she was right that he _wasn't_ the kind of soldier that McCullough wanted. In his dark room, Preacher wondered if this was something war vets had to figure out themselves in the old days. Before the virus started. That there are two kinds of soldiers: The one that the world expects, and the one the individual wants to be. There maybe a thousand different ways to look at it but no matter what the individual fights for, who trains them, who tries to shape them or what their superiors want from them, it's ultimately the person themselves who decides what kind of soldier they are. Especially in the situation Preacher was in.

McCullough wanted him to be the kind of soldier that followed his orders to kill, destroy and leave misery and anguish in his wake. More than that, he wanted followers who'd mold the world to be the one he wanted.

Preacher knew he wasn't that kind of soldier. He figured that out long ago. He still wasn't sure what kind he was, but he knew he wanted the killing to stop. Preacher didn't mean to fall in love with Hazell, but he had. And he knew that if she had survived, if she had listened to him and escaped with the children, he would have married her…Maybe that's how to end the war…Not with hate, not with guns…But with love and understanding.

 _That_ was the kind of soldier he was. The kind that _didn't_ want people to die.

* * *

Red slowly drifted in and out of consciousness until he was finally, fully, awake. Wherever he was now, it was dark, almost pitch black, and cold. Though he could not see anything, Red felt something hard and metallic on his wrists, his ankles, on his abdomen and around his neck. Pinning him to the flat surface his back was pressed on, preventing him from moving.

Despite the obvious trouble he was in, Red kept a stoic face. He wasn't going to let whatever hid in the shadows frighten him. _Show no fear._ He remembered his mother telling him. _Fear doesn't make you weak but, if your enemy can smell it, it can kill you._ She drilled that in his head from an early age. He still wasn't sure if she had been right but another side of him, perhaps a more childish side, still believed her.

"Finally." Came a voice from somewhere in the abyss of a room. "It's about time you've woken up."

It was the colonel, he was sure of it. He was the only human who's voice made Red queasy.

"Got anything to say, Donkey?"

Donkey? Is that his name now? He supposed so. Or maybe that's just what McCullough saw him as. Red kept his mouth shut.

The lights suddenly turned on, nearly blinding him. They were bright, like the way Winter's fur would glow in the sunlight. Only stronger, on purpose. Meant to burn the eyes.

McCullough was immune to the brightness by his sunglasses, which blared cruelly in the light. He walked over to the gorilla who was pinned on the wall. Taking slow steps, letting the sound echo in the room until he was close to Red. So close, that the gorilla could see his reflection in his glasses. "I said, do you have anything to say?" He repeated coldly.

Red knew what he was doing. He was trying to intimidate him. Assert his dominance. Make him scared of him. It's not going to work. "You. Don't scare me." _But I should be._ Red saw this man kill a newborn baby, and forced the infant's father to kill her mother and he knew the colonel was capable of other evils. By all means, he _should_ be scared of him.

But he would never let McCullough know it. He had to have known he was frightening. Even to his own species. But he'll never see Red fear him.

McCullough was still for a second before backing away. He nodded to someone that Red couldn't see. Then Red heard the sound of a lever being pulled.

Then suddenly, pain. No, not just pain. Something more! It felt like his entire body was being stabbed with blades! It was so sudden, so strong that Red didn't have time to react. He wanted to scream, but it was trapped in his clenched jaw. The lever sound came again and the pain stopped as suddenly as it happened, leaving his body burning. The only sounds Red could make, was a strangled moan.

"Now." McCullough stepped closer again. "Let's talk about you."

Red winced with each word. His ears hurt as if sound itself were a weapon.

"Your name is Red, obviously because of your fur. You're from Caesar's colony, which means you follow his rule-But! There's something different about you." Red opened his eyes and saw McCullough's face just inches from his. "You want to survive. You want to live, just like me. You'd do anything to survive."

"I-! D-Don't! Kill! To survive!" Red managed to yell.

"Maybe not!" McCullough yelled back as the lever pulled again, sending Red back into the shaking pain. "But _I_ do!"

The pain lasted longer than before and when it stopped, Red could barely suppress a whimper. The stabbing pain had doubled, now attacking his insides!

"Your name is Red because you're angry." McCullough's voice was different, his tone faster. Louder. "I don't know what you're angry about, but there's anger in you and you want to let it out!"

"Nnn…N-No-!"

The lever pulled, but this time Red screamed. His body flailed and shook as the pain ripped and tore at him. When it stopped, the back of his head and body hurt from banging into the wall.

"Your name is Red!" _Stop saying that!_ Red's mind begged. "The color of blood! You care for your own survival! You don't care for anyone else! Not even your own kind!" McCullough was shouting at him. There was only one of him, but the echoing in the room made it sound as if there were more than just one McCullough. Red swore he saw more of them, surrounding him as they shouted at him. "You will kill for me!"

"Ssssstop! S-Stop!" Red pleaded.

Red, who had never let his pain show or let his enemy sense his fear, was in too much agony to fight his fear. The gorilla had always pictured his fear as a caterpillar, forever hidden behind layers of it's cocoon. He felt as though that cocoon had been broken, it's folds ripped away and his terror exposed. So exposed, the colonel could smell, feel and hear it as it filled the room.

Red wanted it to stop…But McCullough _won't_ stop. The lever pulled, this time the bolt of lightning was so strong, the lights began to flicker.

"Your name is Red! The color of blood! Your name is Red! The color of blood! Your name is Red! The color of blood!" McCullough kept repeating the same words, over and over again until it was the only sound Red could hear.

Red, now writhing in pain, wanted to die. Anything would be better than this.

* * *

It had been a long day for everyone, a blur of worrying and just going through the motions. So when night fell on the city, and the sky became blackened, they all went to sleep without trouble. Most were just exhausted from working on the radio, but others were still afraid for their friends, their loved ones, and that message. Nonetheless, they were all ready to close their eyes and let the memory of today fade from their minds.

But while dark night gave the group time to find sanctuary in their dreams, it also offered the perfect camouflage for someone to sneak around in. After waiting until the entire colony, humans and apes, had fallen asleep, the figure made their move. Hidden in the night, no one knew they were here. No one knew what was to come.

Caesar and the apes never displayed fear in the eyes of the survivors in the city and even if they did fear the humans, they only feared what the humans could do to their home. Malcolm and the others were told to fear the apes, but they never did. And they certainly never feared one of their own…But they'll soon find that they should be afraid…They _all_ should be very afraid.

They wouldn't find that out until morning, though. Until then, they'd have to enjoy the peace while they still can. There wouldn't be anymore of this calmness, of this restful sense of safety, for a long time.

* * *

 **A's/N: Wooh! Sure glad this one is finished. Now I can start on the next one! XD**

 **That's right guys, we're gonna get some more background stories! Has anyone else noticed that, as of right now, Koba and Caesar are the only apes whose backgrounds are known? What is up with that? Anyways, here's what I made up so far!: Ariyah (Pronounced: R-E-Yah) is Red's mother and Dash is Rocket's older brother. Both characters are technically dead, but we will see them in flashbacks. In case anyone is worried about reading a lot of different backgrounds of different characters, all backgrounds do relate or correlate with each other so it shouldn't be much of an issue.**

 **I don't know if Red was really born premature, but he does share a characteristic I read about once. I'm probably wrong, but aren't animals who are born premature or are the 'runt of the litter' tend to be more desperate for survival? If that's true then it would explain why Red cared so much about his own survival in War. And also, in Revelations, Red was described as being 'short'. That could be just a height/gene-related thingy but it could be from being born premature too. Plus, if he was born premature and he was born at a zoo (possibley the San Fransisco Zoo), then it would be possible that Red and Caroline would know each other...Don't worry, we'll see more flashbacks like this later! X3**

 **Speaking of Red! In War, Red became a Donkey and worked for McCullough voluntarily so he could survive. In my version, what if Red was brainwashed/tortured by McCullough and then forced to work for him? And when Red is a Donkey and doing whatever McCullough tells him to do, it's not out of any disloyalty he has towards Caesar but actually because he had been broken down and rebuild into McCullough's donkey and is under his control?...This opens a door for Winter to start shining and a possible role for Tanoddah**

 **Pope's past is also explored a little bit here! My thought is that he was pressed against a burning chain linked/wire fence and was burned as a child which gave him his scars. Meanwhile, we also learn about Dot's past of living in a zoo-sort! XD**

 **I imagine Ellie also has LOTS of connections to the medical personnel survivors in the city. LOL**

 **I actually made that flashback scene with Preacher and Hazell earlier and it was originally going to be in...I think chapter 13 or 14(?), but it got moved because it didn't fit well to me and as I was writing that scene with Winter and Rose, I thought this would be the perfect place to put it.**

 **Remeber when I said that I wasn't done with Koba?...Get ready cause the next chapter is going to be a doozy! XD**

 **Now then, about that figure running around the city...Sweet dreams! XD**

 **Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	17. Where Did All These Needles Come From!

**A's/N: And another long awaited chapter is finally posted! XD Sorry guys, I can't believe I made you all wait that long for this one but I didn't want to post it until it was perfect so here it is!**

 **Warning! The following chapter mentions death, blood, gore and body mutilation (not that detailed, I swear!). I know I said that dead body in chapter 5 will be the only gore in the story, but the plot has expanded since then so I guess that means there's two now. 'XD**

 **Remeber in chapiter one where I started the story right where Koba is about to shoot Caesar? This chapter has a similar awkward begning-The first bit (or flashback of what happened earlier) is told in Koba's point of view and then shifts to Malcolm and Ellie. Shouldn't cause any probalmes, but just thought you should know.**

 **Enjoy the chapter! :D**

* * *

 _Earlier that morning_

 _"_ _OH MY GOD!"_

 _"_ _WHAT THE HELL?!"_

 _"_ _SOMEONE GET ELLIE!"_

 _"_ _HOLY SHIT!"_

 _The loud voices seemed far away. It was as if he were underwater, unable to fully hear the noises. When Koba opened his eyes, he felt like the world was spinning and he was in the center of it. As he slowly sat up, his head pounded. He put a hand to his face but it did nothing to help with the pain._

 _"_ _Koba-!" Another voice said. Koba recognized it as Malcolm's. His vision was still blurry, so it was hard to fully see the man's face. "Koba, are you ok?!"_

 _"_ _Mmmaaal…Um." Koba gurgled, barely able to pronounce the name. Why was he so dizzy?_

 _"_ _Koba?"_

 _"_ _Diz…Z-zy" He tried to stand up but Malcolm quickly stopped him._

 _"_ _No, no. Stay down." There was an urgency in the human's voice that he couldn't understand. As Koba felt Malcolm's hands on his shoulders, he suddenly became aware of how wet his fur was. Almost sticky. "What happened here?"_

 _"_ _Whaa…?"_

 _"_ _Last night. Koba, do you remember anything?"_

 _Right as Malcolm asked, Koba caught a glimpse of something. He turned his head to the right, and saw Dolly lying on the floor with something else near her…She was covered in..!..In-!_

 _Suddenly, before Koba had any time to react, vomit burned his throat as it burst from his mouth. Then everything went black again._

 _Present time_

"The body was dismembered." Malcolm described in a solemn voice. "The only part that was still attached was the head."

Ellie sighed, lowering her face into her hands. She had hoped that it wasn't as bad as the infirmary staff had described it. That maybe they exaggerated it. Intelligent or not, apes weren't normally this violent and they certainly didn't tare up a body with their bare hands. Now, she just felt defeated.

"Ellie." Malcolm sounded just as upset as she felt. "What are we going to do?"

Ellie shook her head sadly. "...I don't know...Even if Koba and Dolly didn't do it, no one will believe them unless we can prove it...And if they did, then..." Ellie's voice broke then. Neither of them wanted to go there.

Despite that, the question was still there: Could those two bonobos really have done this? And if they did, then how? Why? Did that nightmare make Koba snap? He killed humans before, but never like this. But then why would Dolly be in on it if she never was before?

"No." Malcolm's chest felt heavy, like a brick was lodged somewhere in his ribs. "They didn't do this."

"Malcolm-"

"No!" He repeated in a louder tone. "Ellie, we know Koba. We've seen him snap before. He wouldn't do something like this and for all we know, Dolly never killed a human in her life. Let alone rip their body apart."

"But if they didn't do it, then _who_ did?" Ellie agreed with Malcolm, but in her heart, she knew whatever they believed wouldn't be enough to prove Koba and Dolly's innocence.

Malcolm felt that crushing blow of defeat again. There was no one else to blame. Nothing to indicate someone else did this.

They heard someone approaching them just then. "Dreyfus." Ellie gasped when she saw him.

"I assume you two know about what happened?" Dreyfus asked as he approached them.

 _Oh no._ Malcolm thought as he turned to the mayor and frowned at him. "Dreyfus, I swear if you put Koba in that jail again, I'm going to-!"

"Relax Malcolm, I'm not putting anyone in jail." Dreyfus interrupted, throwing Malcolm off guard.

Malcolm stared at him for a second in disbelief. "What?"

Ellie glanced from Dreyfus to Malcolm and back to him. Slowly, a little smile crept on her face. "Are you serious?" She asked.

Dreyfus nodded. "Aaron thinks they should be locked up, but I'm not convinced Koba and his sister did this."

"So...You're going to help us?" Malcolm was amazed by the sudden change in the other man.

"Yes." Dreyfus was shocked at himself too. When he found out about the dead man in that room, he knew it was plausible that an ape or two had torn and ripped him apart limb from limb. If an ape had enough strength to beat a human to death, it wouldn't be too hard for them to mutilate their body without a sharp instrument.

But Koba never did this to any of his previous victims and Dolly was never violent to humans before. It just didn't add up. "Now, lets get some answers."

* * *

The first floor of the infirmary had the most beds, it looked more like something out of a war setting than in the ruins of a hospital. It was also where more of the staff were, and they kept watch twenty-four-seven. Meaning, no one could come in or out of that floor without someone seeing them. Even so, Luca stood guard at the twin bonobo's bed sides. Not fully trusting they'd be safe unless he was there.

For Maurice, it felt like Dolly had never woken up from being tranquilized at all. The only differentiation between now and then was that Koba now laid in a bed with an IV in his arm too.

"Koba was definitely drugged." Said Riley, one of Ellie's nurse friends from the past. "I don't know about Dolly though."

"Is there anyway you can find out what kind of drugs? Test them or something?" It wouldn't surprise Malcolm if they couldn't. It amazed him how much he, and many of the survivors, took doctors and surgery for granted. When he was a child, Malcolm had had his tonsils removed. Now, they the few doctors that survived can't even do that.

"We can't do blood testing because of the lab being damaged." Riley reminded them. Actually, the lab was working during the virus pandemic, but due to contaminated blood mixing with the healthy samples, the entire room was closed off. Now, unable to really clean it, the lab was deemed too risky for use.

If the virus was still in there, Ellie doubted it would effect any of the apes. But the other diseases that had to be living in there, festering in the dried blood and the old needles, certainly would be dangerous for anyone. "What about the vomit?" She piped in. "If Koba was drugged, there may be traces of it in there."

Tori sat in a chair next to Koba's bed, staring at his unconscious face. Wondering if he'd ever wake up again. When she first heard that something had happened to him, Tori never thought Koba would be involved in some kind of murder. Now, she found herself trying to make sense of it all.

Maurice was sitting next to Dolly's bed with the same sad, confused look on his face.

Foster and Kempt appeared then, with them was Caesar, Stone and Rocket. "Ok, what the heck is going on?" Asked Kempt. "Almost everyone is freaking out."

"We're not sure yet." Said Dreyfus, attempting to explain. "Koba and Dolly were found with a dead man in their room."

"What?" Gasped Kempt.

"They didn't do it, did they?" Asked Foster, eyes wide.

"We don't know, that's what we're trying to figure out." Answered Dreyfus.

For a minute, Caesar's blood boiled. Another human dead…At, possibly, Koba's hands. Had the scarred bonobo been manipulating him and the others this whole time? Was all that sorrow and redemption talk just another lie? If so, then how could Caesar, of all of them, have been so stupid to fall for it?!

Rocket didn't know what Caesar was thinking, but he knew the Ape King was suddenly getting angry so he quickly tapped him on the shoulder. _"Dolly not involved before."_ He signed. _"Why she in it now?"_

Caesar's anger dissipated as he realized Rocket was right. Koba had never involved his sister in his crimes before. In fact, Caesar had never known the female to fight anyone…Not even Ishmael, when he…

No. Koba would never manipulate his sister. Even if he tried, Dolly would likely see right through his lies. Then he remembered one other detail.

"Where. Carlos?" He asked the humans.

Carlos. Everyone froze, realizing that they had forgotten all about the elderly ape. Even Malcolm and Ellie, who were still talking with Riley, paused. That's right, Koba and Dolly share that room with their father. But when the body was found, Carlos was nowhere in sight.

"Shit…!" Dreyfus cursed as he realized Carlos was missing.

Malcolm walked over to them. "Kempt, you and Stone go look for Carlos."

"Right. See ya guys later, then." Said Kempt as he and Stone left. As the door closed behind them, Dreyfus looked at Malcolm.

"How the heck are they gonna find one ape in a half destroyed city?" He asked with a frown.

"They'll find him." Malcolm had to believe that.

"An elderly ape? Who had been on drugs for years? I don't think he could have gotten that far." Interrupted Foster before coming up with a thought himself. "Do you guys think maybe he had anything to do with this?"

"I don't think he could have left anything more than a scratch on that guy." Ellie interjected. "Let alone actually kill him." _But that doesn't mean he wasn't the mastermind._ She considered before quickly pushing the thought away. Even if Carlos had been the one to want this man dead, wouldn't Koba and Dolly have refused? It seemed more likely that Carlos had simply ran off when the chaos happened…Or possibly went to get help…But that still doesn't explain why this happened.

"While they look for Carlos, we could search that room." Said Malcolm. "See if there's something in there that was missed."

Ellie looked back at Riley. "If you find anything in the vomit, tell me."

"You know I will." Said Riley with a nod.

"Tori-" Dreyfus didn't even get to ask the question when the pink haired girl answered.

"I'm staying here." She barely looked up from the sleeping bonobo's face. "I don't want to leave him."

"I. Stay too." Said Maurice, surprising everyone with his voice. "With Dolly."

Ellie glanced at Riley who nodded, signaling that it was alright. "Might be a good idea if they stayed." She said as she looked at the others. "After whatever happened in that room, it would be nice if they woke up and found a familiar face with them."

Ellie was right. Besides, Tori was probably the only human Koba would open up to. And even though Maurice had never expressed it, Caesar and Rocket knew the orangutan liked Dolly.

"Luca, keep watch." Said Caesar, turning to the gorilla who nodded in response.

No one noticed him standing outside the hallway as he listened in, but Aaron heard everything. He quickly slipped away into the shadows as the group began to leave. If any of them were to look into the hallway he was previously standing in, they would be too late to see him. He had already left.

* * *

 _"_ _What do you think all the drama this morning was about?"_ Signed Bon as he and Grey stood on top of a building.

 _"_ _I don't know, some fight gone wrong maybe? They didn't really say much."_ Grey gave the best answer he could give.

The patrol had been woken up earlier than usual that morning by the Gorilla Guards. Caesar and the humans weren't very clear of what had happened, but told them to search the entire area. Now, the city was crawling with humans on the ground and apes jumping from building to building, all of them searching for what the Ape King called an intruder-or, anything that didn't belong. Grey wondered if Caesar even knew what they were looking for.

 _"_ _Did you hear the screaming?"_ Bon kicked an old bag with a picture of a yellow bear on it out of his way. Whatever was inside was gooey and rotten, and he didn't want to know what was in there.

 _"_ _How could I have not? Cedar and I woke up to it. Scared her half to death."_ That was only a half truth. Grey himself had practically jumped out of his skin when he heard the screaming. _"It was humans screaming, right?"_

 _"_ _It had to be. They're the only ones I've ever heard make that sound."_ Bon thought for a minute before saying anything else. _"...Grey? Do you feel safe here? In the city?"_

Grey paused at the question. Safe? Well, safe isn't the right word to describe this place. They weren't in any danger here, but the city was too close to the past-back in the years of cages and zoos and labs, to feel like a safe place. _"I don't know, does it matter? It's not like there's any other place."_

 _"_ _But what if there_ were _a better place?"_ Bon pressed. _"Would you want to go there?"_

Grey looked Bon in the eyes. He knew a scheming ape when he saw one and Bon suddenly had the same kind of look in his eyes that Grey was used to seeing in Koba. Grey had never been friends with Bon before. He and Stone were friend with Koba and with his sister but the twin bonobos were also friends with Pope, and Bon and Rex were the ones that seemed to always follow the fishnet scarred chimpanzee around. Funny, Grey always thought Pope was the leader of the trio.

 _"_ _What are you talking about?"_ He asked with a frown.

Bon glanced around before coming in closer so that only Grey could see his signs. _"Rex and I are thinking about leaving."_

Grey froze, taken aback. _"Leave? Why?"_

 _"_ _We don't trust the humans."_ Bon saw the anger in Grey's eyes. _"We think there might be another way-"_

 _"_ _What about the colonies uniting?!"_ Grey signed furiously. _"What about all the good things humans and apes could do together?! Did Hazell's death not mean anything to you?!"_

 _"_ _You and I didn't even know her!"_ Bon signed with a frown of his own. _"And besides, she mated with a human! That means she betrayed apes!"_

 _"_ _That doesn't mean she and her daughter deserved to die!"_

 _"_ _I didn't say that!"_ Bon didn't realize Grey would be this difficult. Pope was better at convincing than he was. _"And considering her children are half human, do you really think they'd be accepted by the apes? By the humans? What do you think is going to happen to Hopely when he's older? He is cared for by Cornelia and the females now, but what happens after that? Do you want a hybrid around?"_

Grey huffed at him, flustered and disgusted with the other chimp. Now he brings this up? After the two colonies united? After everyone agreed to work together? Unity was what Hazell had believed in, it had to mean something if she was so willing to risk her life for it.

But Bon was right about one thing. It didn't matter what his mother had fought for, Hopely would still be an outcast. Too ape to belong with humans, and too human to belong with apes. His very existence could easily be seen as taboo, a disgrace to both colonies. The only person who would accept him would be Preacher, his father. But if he dies, what would that mean for Hopely?

"I. Wouldn't mind. At all." Growled Grey. He didn't care what Bon said, it wasn't Hopely's fault he was half human and he didn't deserve to be treated as such.

Bon scowled. _"Forget about Hopely."_ He signed, changing the subject. _"What about your wife? Isn't she pregnant?"_

Grey's face fell as he stared at him. _"What?"_

Bon knew he had him then. _"I know you want to keep her and the baby safe, Grey. What kind of husband and father would let his family live in fear? Or in a place where they could be attacked at any moment?"_

"Bon!" Yelled Spear from another building. When Bon looked at him, he signed: _"Do you see anything?"_

While Bon and Spear signed to each other, Grey thought about what was just said to him. Cedar and the baby were the reason why he stopped working with the council…The reason why he joined the patrol. He wanted nothing more than to protect them…But what if Bon was right? Maybe not about the humans, but what if the soldiers were too dangerous to fight? What if just by staying in the city, he could be putting his family in danger?

Grey frowned and shook his head at himself. No. That couldn't be right! Wouldn't Caesar and the others know if this place was too dangerous?

 _How would they?_ His mind asked. _Unless the soldiers attack, how would we really know if we're in danger?_

* * *

 _Pope's Dream_

 _Pope is again trapped in the fog. It doesn't look any different than usual, but he is afraid. He feels like an elk or a rabbit, knowing that he is prey and the predator is coming for him. The scarred chimpanzee keeps turning his head around, too scared to move. The whiteness around him was thick enough to hide whatever is after him from view and he feels like something is going to jump out and attack him at any minute. He tries not to panic, but his fear is building on itself. He was so afraid, that Pope began to wish it was Rowena that glared at him. Her gaze, as intense and unsettling as it was, wasn't dangerous._

 _Suddenly, Pope heard the screeching of apes and then horses ran past him-or rather,_ through _him. He heard gunshots, and humans screaming. It was at that moment that Pope realized he was standing in the middle of a battle. Humans and apes were at war! Fighting and killing each other off, one by one!_

Was this it? _He wondered._ Are all the humans going to die? Will apes win?

 _This is what Koba had wanted. It was how Pope wanted the human to die so that he could take over._

 _But something was wrong. It wasn't battle cries he was hearing, but something more. Howls of pain, of creatures knowing that death was upon them and unable to escape it. A kind of terror that only doom could bring. More apes and humans were killing each other faster than Pope could blink. Most of them weren't even using weapons, but instead fighting each other with their bare hands. Slashing and biting each other as if their very lives depended on it. It was a savagery that Pope never seen an ape do and never thought a human could be capable of._

 _An ape suddenly dropped dead right at Pope's feet. Much to his horror, he realized it was Rocket. The balding chimp lay on his back, with a large knife protruding from his chest as blood spilled underneath him._

 _Then another fell, it was Spear. And then Grey appeared dead, and then Jeanpierre, and then Luca, and Bon, and Stone, and Maurice, and-!…They just kept coming! Ape after ape, all from the colony. Apes that Pope knew. In seconds, their bodies piled up in a grotesque wall. Threatening to fall over on top of the fishnet scarred chimp._

 _It was at that moment that Pope realized not all of the dead were apes. There was an equal amount of human bodies too…And he recognized them as well, Malcolm, Ellie, Dreyfus, Foster, Kempt, Tori, Alex, and many other humans from the city were all among the dead. Their lifeless eyes staring right up at the sky, never to focus on anything else again._

 _The entire colony was dead, he was sure of it. He had to be the only one left. But there were still apes fighting the soldiers…Some of them, he realized with a shriek, were skeletons. Long dead apes who were nothing more than bones. Still fighting, still screeching at their enemies as they battled on._

 _"_ _It. Last longer. Than. You. Think." Came an all too familiar voice. Pope turned around and saw Hazell standing behind him. She looked more dead than usual. Her face white, her fur caked with dirt and maggots sticking to her. It was as if she had crawled out of her grave. "Continue. If not stop."_

 _"_ _Ha-Hazell?"_

 _"_ _Decide, Pope." Hazell's decaying body was suddenly disappearing. Becoming transparent. In a voice, so cold it made him feel as if ice were poking into his skin, she asked. "What. Are you. Fighting for?"_

 _End of Dream_

Pope woke up with his heart pounding. He looked around, expecting to see more dead and dying people, but only found the old walls of the room. It didn't make him feel any better, the room felt as if it were getting smaller and smaller! And soon, he'll suffocate in it!

 _Calm down!_ The voice shouted in Pope's mind. _Only a nightmare. You're just overreacting!_ The fishnet scarred ape forced air into his lungs as he inhaled. In moments, he was breathing normally again.

He decided right then and there that he was done with this room. Pope didn't care where he'd sleep from now on, as long as it didn't contain four walls and a door.

"Dot?" He asked, thinking maybe the silvery eyed female would like to go outside today. He certainly could use the fresh air.

No answer. Dot must be still asleep, but wouldn't he have waken her up with his nightmare?

"Dot…?" He tried again. Still no answer.

That's when Pope realized he was all alone. The bed was empty-in fact, he had thrashed around so much that all the bedding was on the floor. But no Dot. _Where could she have gone off to?_

Then, he saw it. Pope's ears immediately became hot as he stared at the syringe on the floor.

* * *

Koba's heart pounded as he felt the stinging of a needle in his arm. His body felt paralyzed, as if something held him down. In his silent panic, he felt as if he were laying on a table and was back at Gen-Sys. Any minute, he'll hear the voices of humans who'll do things to his body without the mercy of being put to sleep and he'll see light. He'll go away again. He'll be back in his cage, unable to feel and unable to care about anything. The pain will start soon. He _will_ be his pain and he doesn't want to, but if he just fights-!

Tori, who had fallen asleep with her hand holding Koba's, woke up when she heard his breathing become faster. She lifted her head up, just in time to see the scarred bonobo's eyes snap open and his right arm reach over to the IV in his other arm.

He was trying to _yank_ it out!

"Koba-! No!" Tori immediately took both of his hands in hers. She didn't dare pull his hand away from the IV, fearing she may pull it out if he already had a grip on it. "No, no, stop. Just look at me."

Koba looked up, expecting to see Jacobs, but the face he saw instead made everything stop. Tori. Her pink hair, her brown eyes, the faint smell of salt and ocean water on her skin. He wasn't at Gen-Sys at all. His breathing returning to normal, he released the IV from his grasp and instead held her hands.

"Tori…"

Tori allowed a small, relieved smile to form on her face. That was all she needed. Just to hear his voice.

For a minute, Koba allowed himself to get lost in her eyes. Tori's brown eyes, which promised him peace and sanctuary. He knows he will not be hurt here, and he doesn't want that feeling to go away.

But something was wrong. This isn't the bedroom he remembered going to sleep in last night. From the corner of his one good eye, he saw orange fur. When he turned his head, he found Maurice looking at them. In the bed he was sitting next to, was Dolly.

"What. Happened?" Koba was now wide awake. Why did he and Dolly both had IV's in their arms?! Why were they here?! And where was Carlos?!

Tori and Maurice exchanged glances. The orangutan shrugged his shoulders and Tori sighed. "Koba." She looked back to him. "...Do you remember anything from last night?"

Last night? Koba realized he didn't remember much at all. He vaguely remembered telling Dolly and Carlos about what happened after Tori dropped him off at the room, and then later that night, he and his sister and father had fallen asleep...But then, he heard Carlos' voice and some banging around and then...Nothing.

Koba's hand traveled to his head as he tried to recover any images from last night, but that only made his pounding headache worse. It felt like what he was looking for was right just behind his eyelids. He closed his eyes. Now he could almost see it, but it was too fuzzy to fully make out. What little of it he could see, just confused him more.

"Blood…" The image was just clear enough for him to recognize the dark red liquid. It came down on him like a waterfall. "…Blood…F-Falling…"

Blood falling? Maurice and Tori could only assume he was talking about the bloody puddle on the floor. But Koba's words confused both of them. How could blood _fall_ on him?…On anyone? Blood doesn't…!

The two glanced at each other again, silently asking if the other was thinking the same thing.

…Unless…

Maurice got up and went over to Luca as Tori watched on. Unlike her, the two lager gorillas had seen Koba and Dolly when they were still covered in the blood. They were the ones who carried them downstairs. Tori hadn't given the blood much thought, but only now was she rethinking it's value. Was the blood itself a clue of some kind?

"…Tori…?"

Tori looked back at Koba. His now open eyes had a look in them that worried her.

Koba hesitated before asking. "I…Did something…Bad…Did I?"

What little Koba remembered of last night and the vague memory of Malcolm talking to him and the alarmed yells of the other humans was enough to tell him that something bad had happened…And even though he didn't want to think he had done it, what he remembered indicated otherwise.

Tori considered telling him about the dead guy in his bedroom, but thought against it. Maybe she simply didn't want to say it out loud. Maybe she didn't want to be the one to tell him. Or maybe she just didn't want to believe that Koba…her Koba…Could have killed that man. She sighed sadly. "…I don't know…"

Despite Tori's answer, Koba's imagination ran wild. Did he have another blackout? Did he attack someone without meaning to?…Did he _kill_ someone?! Who?! Tori, Luca, Maurice and Malcolm were fine, but what about Caesar and the others?! Or worse, what if he had attacked his own sister and father?! Was that why they were-?!

Koba forced his mind's voice to shut up. No. As bad as his demons were, they couldn't have driven him to hurt or kill his own family.

"Do you…F-Fear…Koba now?" Koba was actually relieved that Tori was with him. He wasn't sure he could handle it if he had scared her away. But still, regardless of whatever he had done, how could she sit next to him if she knew he was potentially dangerous?

That struck a cord with Tori. With the hand that used to hold his left hand, she gently stroked his right arm. Avoiding the IV as she did. "I wouldn't be here if I did."

Koba exhaled through his nose in a sigh. Tori wasn't afraid of him. She was still his friend. He still dreaded whatever would come now, and he still didn't know what had happened, but his headache and nausea were getting to him and he felt chills all over. Sleep sounded good.

"Stay…?" It was more of a pleading request than a question.

"I'll stay." Tori promised. Even if Koba hadn't asked, she would have stayed with him.

With that, Koba closed his eyes and let Tori's strokes send him to sleep. The song she had sang to him in the jail cell repeated itself in his mind. He remembered every word. It played itself like a lullaby as it took Koba to a place where he knew he would be safe.

Tori watched him sleep for a minute, hoping that if he dreams about anything, it wouldn't be about blood or his past.

No one noticed Dolly's fingers twitch. In a sigh, so small it minus well be nothing, she whispered: "…Maurice…"

 _Dolly's Flashback_

 _They were everywhere. Some big, some small. Some were adults, and others were children. They were a blur of long limbs, black fur and grey skin. Like a swarm of bees. It was only then, right as the twins stood there, that Dolly realized that the only other bonobo she and Koba had ever known was Mother, and she never acted like this._

 _Most of the bonobos were sitting in groups and were laughing at, seemingly, nothing (or possibly, each other) and many were either play fighting, mimicking each other or clumsily playing games._

 _Koba and Dolly looked at each other with confused faces. Mirroring each other's own pitifulness. They'd never seen so many bonobos in one place and they all seemed intimidating. Even the young ones who played innocently looked frightening. The way they all acted was so strange. It made the twins feel awkward and out of place. The only reason they were here was because of Ishmael, who had invited Dolly to come meet the other bonobos. Dolly of course, didn't want to go alone so she dragged her younger twin to go with her…But maybe coming at all wasn't a good idea._

 _"_ _Maybe we should just go." Suggested Koba, signing closely so only his sister could see._

 _"_ _They're our kind. They won't hurt us." Reasoned Dolly. But even as she signed, she wished she were back in their quarters. Where it was nice and quiet and the only other bonobo besides herself was Koba. It felt safer than being out here._

 _The twins were startled by the sudden shriek of one of the other males. He and another one appeared to be playing a game that involved jumping over each other and running around at a fast pace and screaming all the while. It looked like a rowdier version of leap frog._

 _"_ _They LOOK like they could." Signed Koba._

 _"_ _They only look dangerous because we don't know their games." Dolly wondered where these games even came from. She and Koba never played anything like that before. Not even with Milo._

 _Dolly was sure the games were harmless and she didn't think the other bonobo's were bad, but it just didn't feel safe here with them._

 _Koba glanced from her to the bonobos, and then to the tall trees. The longing in his eyes reflected her own. Dolly knew her twin brother wanted to disappear and be high above the loud noises and crowd of apes. It was the same feeling Dolly felt. Neither of them felt like they belonged here with their species._

 _Dolly was just about to take his hand and go home when, suddenly, one of the males came up from behind and tackled Koba to the ground, causing her brother to squeak loudly. Dolly jumped back, ready to pounce but she was shaking so badly that she couldn't make her body move._

 _"_ _Tag, you're it!" The male bonobo signed in Koba's face as he jumped off of the other male._

 _Koba, wide eyed with startlation, only stared at him. "…Tag?" He signed hesitantly._

 _The male hoot-laughed at him. "That means you have to chase me!"_

 _"…_ _I don't know you…"_

 _"_ _That is why you're it!"_

 _Slowly, Dolly's heart starts beating in it's normal rhythm. As she watched the two sign to each other, she realizes the male is younger than them. Possibly only nine or ten._

 _Another bonobo appeared then, this one was slightly older than the first one but not by much. "I don't think they understand, Jojo." He signed._

 _"_ _How could they not understand? It's tag!" Jojo signed back._

 _Two other bonobos appeared, both females this time. Dolly didn't bother to look at them, she suddenly felt like the entire horde were looking at her and Koba._

 _"_ _If they understood they'd be playing right now." Signed the other male._

 _Koba took the chance to return to his sister. Instinctively, he hid behind her. Old habits die hard. He could only hope they won't notice._

 _But they did. "What's the matter with him?" Signed Jojo._

 _The other male nudged him. "Stop it, Jojo!"_

 _One of the females stepped forward as she looked at Dolly and Koba. Her eyes were as green as emeralds. The other female was much older than the twins while this one was about the same age as them. "It's ok, you don't have to be shy." She signed to them._

 _The image of her cage flashed into her mind, and Dolly suddenly wished she were back inside it. She shook the thought out of her head immediately. No, she didn't want to go back to the humans. What she really wanted was to be away from all these overwhelming strangers._

 _"_ _Must be the new friends Ishmael was talking about." Signed the other male._

 _"_ _Are they stupid or something?" Jojo gestured without care if the twins saw._

 _Stupid? Was that what they think they are? Humans called them 'stupid animals', but never another ape. Koba sank deeper behind her, and Dolly felt her lip quiver. Wordlessly, she took her brother's hand and ran off._

 _Shortly after the trees of the forest hide them, they passed a river. Dolly would have kept on going, but she realized that Koba had stopped running. She turned around and found her twin staring at something near the water._

What is he looking at? Following his gaze, Dolly glanced at the river.

 _It wasn't hard to see what her brother was looking at. Dipping his hand in the water and bringing it up to his mouth to drink, was an orangutan. He sat on a tree that had fallen over the river and now hung over it like a bridge. Though neither twin made a sound, the orangutan turned his head in their direction and stared right back at them._

 _The orangutan, was Maurice._

* * *

Ellie couldn't help but feel as if she were watching a CSI episode with her and the others in it. The bedroom was empty-except for the beds with their sheets and pillows on the floor and nightstands…And the blood on the floor. The entrance was closed off with faded yellow tape, which must have been recycled from a previous area.

"You guys sure that man was ripped up in here?" Asked Foster as he eyed the room. "Cause it kinda looks like a Halloween set up to me."

"Hallo…Ween?" Asked Rocket, not familiar with the word.

"Human celebration. Pretend to be monsters." Explained Caesar. "Not. Important right now."

"The body was found in here." Dreyfus was both there and not there. His brow furrowed in a focused frown and his eyes had a near far away look to them. "There's blood, so chances are he was dismembered in here-"

"Yes but why is there only blood on that one spot on the floor and not on the walls? Or on the ceiling?" Forster interrupted. He glanced at the bloody floor and frowned at it. "In fact, why is it a puddle at all? Shouldn't it be spattered or something?"

Blue Eyes gulped and shivered. Caesar didn't want him to get involved and now, the young prince understood why. He was almost glad the blood wasn't all over the room. That, and if coupled with the thought of Koba and Dolly taring and ripping a human's limbs from their body, would have been enough to make Blue Eyes sick.

The four humans went silent, thinking. Caesar, Blue Eyes and Rocket waited. No one spoke until Ellie broke the silence.

"You know…Even if Koba and Dolly _did_ do this without a cutting tool, there would still be some spatter on the walls. Smeared even." She said with a frown.

"Then, why wasn't it?" Asked Dreyfus, snapping out of his trance briefly.

Before anyone could say anything, Luca suddenly appeared. His eyes were widened. "Koba. Woke up." He said, not used to his voice.

That was welcomed news. After all this craziness, it was was nice to know that their friend was ok.

"Is he alright?" Asked Malcolm. The image of the scarred bonobo vomiting was still fresh in his mind.

"Not sure." Luca answered with a shrug. "He say. Blood fell on him."

"Blood…Fell…?" Caesar didn't know if he had heard the gorilla right. Blood doesn't _fall_ on people.

A chill ran down Ellie's spine. It felt as if a piece of this complicated puzzle had just been put into place. The image it created left more questions than answers, but it made one thing clear to her. "That's it…!" She looked at the others. "The blood was dumped on them!"

Everyone looked confused, not understanding what Ellie was getting at. Dreyfus side glanced at the puddle before glancing back at her. "Dumped?"

"Wherever that blood came from, it didn't belong to that man." That would explain why the blood only covered the bonobo twins and left a big puddle in the middle of the floor. If the man was torn apart in that room, there wouldn't be that kind of blood pattern.

There was no blood splatter…Because the dead man didn't bleed that blood!

Blue Eyes had zoned out. Staring blankly into the bedroom as he blocked everyone else out. He feeling that feeling again. That feeling of wishing he weren't prince. That he didn't have to deal with all this…And most of all, wishing he could go back to when he was little. Back when honorary uncles didn't try to kill his father or start a war with humans, no soldiers existed and back when he and Ash and all the other young apes had to do was play without a care in the world.

That feeling always made Blue Eyes want to cry, but he would never shed a tear in front of the council. Not if he could help it.

He was neck-deep in his trance, when something in the room caught his eye. Blue Eyes blinked, unsure if he was imagining it or not. He squinted at the thing but couldn't really see it from where he was. It was under one of the beds, the one with the plush kitten next to it.

Blue Eyes glanced at the others to see if any of them noticed the thing, but they were still talking about the blood. He was the only one who had seen it.

He didn't want to go in that room, but the thing beckoned him to come closer. Taking a breath, he hopped over the yellow tape and walked around the puddle as he approached the bed.

"Blue Eyes?" Caesar noticed his son suddenly going into the room. His voice caused the others to look at him and then to the prince.

Blue Eyes didn't answer, he just bent down and looked under the bed. The thing was small and shiny when the light touched it. Curious, he reached underneath and pulled it out. Once it was out from under the bed and in his hand, Blue Eyes recognized the thing, and it made the fur on his neck stand up. He immideitaly went back to the others and handed the thing to Ellie.

The thing was a needle…Filled with a liquid.

* * *

"Ok, if you were Carlos' age and your kids killed someone, what would you do?" Asked Kempt, as he and Stone searched for Carlos.

"Stop. Them." Said Stone.

Kempt realized that question was a little too obvious. "Ok, what if your kids are stronger than you?"

Stone shrugged. "Get. Help."

Considering how skinny and bony Carlos was compared to his children, it wouldn't take much at all for either of them to overpower him. Koba was strong, obviously much stronger and heavier than Carlos and even if Dolly was lighter than her brother, she certainly wouldn't be any easier for him to fight. The only choice he had to have had was to get help...Or, save himself and run for his life.

Just then, something crashed into a trashcan, causing it to tumble over. Kempt gasped and Stone hooted as old trash spilled out into the sidewalk and landed right at their feet.

"What the hell?" Kempt peaked into the alleyway where the trashcan came from. Something was in there, trying to hide possibly.

The human and chimp exchanged a glance at each other before entering. "Hello?" Kempt called as he took a hesitant step forward.

Silence.

Stone followed, sniffing the air. "Carlos? That you?"

More silence.

Kempt and Stone gasped as something suddenly grabbed them and pulled them closer to the wall. It's boney hands covering each of their mouths. "Soldiers…!" Hissed a voice.

Kempt breathed to slow his heartbeat as he and Stone wiggled out of the elderly bonobo's grasp. Clearly they had underestimated how strong he actually was. "Carlos, it's us. Kempt and Stone, remember?"

Carlos didn't seem to hear Kempt. The pupils in his wide-open eyes were dilated and he constantly turned his head. His body was shaking, though it wasn't that cold out. "…Soldiers…Sss-Soldiers…"

The two shared another glance. What were they suppose to do now? They had found Carlos, but something was clearly wrong with him. Kempt wondered how they could explain this to the others. _Good news Koba and Dolly! We found your dad! The bad news is, he might be high on something._

Stone stepped closer. "Carlos, what. Wrong?" He asked, signing the same question.

It was at that moment that they noticed there was blood on the bonobo's fingers and under his nails. Was he in a fight or something?

"Soldiers…" This time, Carlos was looking right at the human and other ape as he spoke. "…Here…"

* * *

Red was barely aware of the cold floor when he was thrown at it. He was already in too much pain from the torture to care.

"Keep him in here for now." Said the hating voice of the colonel. "We'll continue with him later."

Then, the door closed and the room became so dark that Red could barely see anything at all. His neck, stomach, wrists and ankles still burned from the shocks and though he could not properly see them, Red could feel missing fur and flaky skin when he dared himself to touch the wounds. He was injured bad, but he was too _exhausted_ from screaming to really care.

As he drifted into unconsciousness, Red felt the gentle touch of fingers as they stroked the side of his head. He could not tell if it was human or ape, but it didn't matter. It was the first, and only, calming touch Red had felt since being brought here. If not, then when his mother died.

However, as the hand stroked him, Red could distinctively hear a voice say: "…It's ok…Just go to sleep…You need it..."

The voice had to be human, but Red had fallen asleep shortly after hearing it and he forgot all about it.

* * *

 **A's/N: Shorter than the last one, but ya know-it's not about how long the chapter is, just what happens in it, right? X3**

 **Looks like Koba is in trouble again (like I said before, I still got plans for our favorite scarred ape) but did he really kill that guy? Or is something much darker going on? It's up to the team to find out!**

 **Needles! Needles everywhere! ~ See why I gave the chapter that name? XD**

 **I've been meaning to do another Dolly flashback for a while now but didn't know where or when to place it. X'D Hope no one minds that, just some OC devolpemt there (there's lots of that in this story, with both my OC's _and_ the canon characters)-and a picture of how Koba and his sister first interacted with their species! **

**Speaking of Koba, he and Tori get another moment together! This time, a lot of that interation was inspired by this:**

 ** _"They do things to his eyes. They cut him open and sew him back together again. They stick long needles into the middle of his stomach without putting him to sleep first. But Koba-Koba is going away. He doesn't feel anything anymore. His body isn't his own, and he doesn't care. He is hardly even present. He_ is _his cage. He_ is _his pain." ~ Firestorm._**

 **I read Firestorm last year, around August and October I think, and now I'm basically getting ideas for how Koba changes and heals from his flashbacks in the book (this also applies to Dolly too, but even more so for Koba).**

 **And Dot is missing...This would be how Pope get's involved! Keep an eye on him! ;D**

 **And finally, Red!...Can anyone guess who that is that's with him? XD**

 **Welp, it's offical everybody...My story is a year old! :P I missed it, but Before The Storm's 'birthday' was last month (September) on the 28th...And I've only submitted 17 chapters!...No worries, this story is far from over! XD**

 **Which reminds me, I have a question for you guys (cause I'm curiou!): Of the chapters I submited so far, which one is your favorite?**

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


	18. Too Close To Home

**A's/N: Hi people! How's 2019 so far? :D**

 **So little update here: I got the Dawn of The Planet of The Apes Novalization for my birthday and I dicovered Kemp's name is spelled withut a 'T'. Those of you that already read tha book probably already knew that but I didn't so I'm going to go back into my previous chapters and fix that error. XD**

 **Warnig!: This chapter contains scenes of cursing, a not-so-detailed C-Section (nothing gross I swear!) and mentions of drugs anf dismembered body limbs (again, nothing gross!).**

 **Anyways, enjoy the late chapter! ;D**

* * *

McCullough was gone. Caroline didn't know where he went, but she took his absence as an opportunity to get answers.

When she was sure the only people in the colonel's courters were the servants, she started searching. By now, Caroline had lived with McCullough long enough to know how he organized things. Sure he'd leave maps, jacks and shell casings on the table, and Caroline had never seen him clean anything other than his plate and face, but McCullough was not one to leave anything important lying around and out in the open. He kept anything that reflected his plans hidden and all windows to his mind locked tightly.

But Caroline had learned years ago that all hidden treasures can be found eventually, and all windows can be opened somehow.

The first place she wanted to try was that camera room, but when she tried the doorknob, she found it to be locked. Of course it would, McCullough always kept the key for it in his front pocket on his uniform.

Undeterred, Caroline pulled out one of her hair clips and pulled out a paper clip from her skirt pocket and used them to try and pick the lock. A trick she picked up from Cortez, though the scarred gorilla hadn't used it since getting burned.

After a couple of tries, a light snap told her one clip was broken and the other damaged. She pulled both tools out with a frustrated sigh. Clearly this door had a more complicated lock than the ones used for cages.

 _How ironic, Jonathon._ She thought bitterly. _You'd think by now, I'd know not to underestimate you, but I still do._

Meanwhile, Lake was busy dusting

Just then, Caroline jumped as she heard the floor boards behind her make a sound. Was McCullough back already?!

No. Much to her relief, the person standing there was Lake. _"Sorry."_ She quickly signed. _"I just came in here to clean."_

Caroline sighed to calm her nerves. _"It's ok."_ She signed as she stood up. _"Where's Cortez and Rowena?"_

 _"_ _Still doing chores."_ Lake glanced at the door Elaine was just sitting in front of before looking back at the human. _"Were you trying to get in there?"_

Caroline hesitated before nodding. _"I was trying to find out what he's going to do with Red."_

Lake looked surprised. _"You really care about him?"_ Elaine looked and acted like she was his wife, but their interactions weren't like Lake's own parents, or Caesar's and Cornelia's, or like Rocket's and Tinker's. It felt…Fake. Like McCullough liked having her around, but he didn't seem to actually love Elaine. Meanwhile, Elaine didn't act as if she loved him either. If anything, it felt like she feared him.

But as strange as their marriage was, Lake expected Elaine to have some dislike or resentment to the apes.

Caroline sighed a deep sigh. Thinking. She supposed now was a good time to tell Lake who she really was. _"My name isn't Elaine."_ She admitted. _"My real name is Caroline."_

 _"_ _Caroline?"_ Lake asked, scrunching he face in confusion.

 _"_ _I joined the AO with Will. Caesar's adoptive father."_ She explained, hoping Lake knew of Caesar's background.

Her hope was confirmed by Lake's eyes widening. _"Caesar's adoptive father?! You know him?!"_ Lake and all the other apes her age had been told by Maurice and their parents that Caesar had been raised by humans. Caesar never gave names, but it was known that he had an adoptive grandfather, an adoptive mother, and an adoptive father.

If the adoptive father-or Will, is here than...! _"You're Caesar's adoptive mother!?"_

At that, Caroline almost laughed. She never thought of herself as a mother, but she supposed that sounded about right. _"Yes!"_

Lake hooted in amazement before quickly placing her hands over her mouth and glancing around to see if anyone heard her. When nothing happened, she glanced back at Caroline. _"But if you're Caesar's adoptive mother, why are you the Colonel's wife?"_

Caroline mentally rolled her eyes at the word. She married the Colonel. McCullough and the soldiers put together a wedding for them in the base and she wore an old, white gown...But it wasn't a marriage. Not one Caroline's parents would have approved of and certainly not one she would have, under normal circumstances, would have agreed to.

 _"_ _He wanted a wife and he chose me…I accepted because I thought it could give me a chance to get closer to his plans without anyone being suspicious. He calls me his wife, but I'm actually spying on him."_ There, that sounds better. That's why their marriage is a sham. It was never real from the start.

Slowly, the pieces began to come together in Lake's mind: The soldier most called Roscoe was actually Will, who was Caesar's adoptive father and the Colonel's 'wife' was Caesar's adoptive mother, who was really spying on McCullough. They were both here, under different names. Surrounded by soldiers maybe, but alive…Caesar's adoptive parents…The family that most of the apes in her colony disapproved, were the very people who were trying to stop the Alpha-Omega before the apes and the humans back in the city knew of their existence.

Rebels.

But what did any of this have to do with Red? Caesar didn't know other apes until he was taken to the primate shelter, which meant he didn't grow up with any ape siblings. So where did Red fit into all of this?

 _"_ _But if you're Caesar's adoptive mother, how do you know Red?"_ Lake asked when this thought came to mind.

Caroline paused for a second. Ten years of never speaking a word of her family or of where she came from have left her memories buried and locked away. The only hints of the past being her earrings, and Will. Especially Will.

She believed she'd either take the truth of who she was and who she knew to her grave, or the Colonel would die never knowing who he had married.

 _"_ _I used to work at the Zoo, the very one Caesar freed some of the apes in your colony from, as a vet-Or healer and midwife."_ She corrected when seeing the slight confusion in Lake's face.

Lake nodded, showing she understood.

 _Good._ Thought Caroline. _"The year before Caesar freed your colony, there was a female gorilla named Ariyah. She was sick, I had to deliver her child through an emergency C-section. That baby was Red."_

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _Forceps!"_

 _Caroline felt like she was on a tightrope. Any minute, she'll lose her balance and plunge into nothingness. The familiar sounds and smells of the operating room didn't make her feel any better. She was used to doing cesarian sections, but never like this. She normally only preformed this procedure for smaller mammals in less dire situations._

 _This was different…This was a matter of life and death._

 _"_ _We're losing them!" Gasped one of the others, another vet._

 _The only noise Caroline could hear was the heartbeats on the monitor. One was Ariyah's, the other was the baby's. Ariyah's was beating abnormally, and the baby's was unstable. Everything else didn't matter. "Not if I can help it, keep going!"_

 _It had to have been minutes after saying that, but if felt like hours had passed when Caroline finally had her hands on the baby gorilla as she gently pulled him out. While one of the other vets started to close the wound, she placed the baby on a clean mat as she cleared his airways._

 _He was premature by seven months…And he wasn't moving._

 _"_ _Come on, baby." Caroline whispered as she pressed her fingers on his tiny chest. "Breathe!"_

 _There was a short cycle of her doing CPR and another vet checking the infant's pulse. It was the same head spinning, heart dropping feeling of time running out. A kind of panic that made her whole body tremble. Caroline focused on nothing else._

 _She didn't hear her colleague until she suddenly felt her hand on her shoulder. "Hay, I feel a pulse!"_

 _"_ _W-What?" Caroline felt as if her mind had floated away and was suddenly yanked back to the ground._

 _"_ _He's alive!"_

 _Caroline quickly glanced at the baby gorilla. He still wasn't making any noise, but she saw the slightest hint of movement from him. His tiny eyes twitching and fingers slowly clenching and unclenching._

 _"_ _Oh thank God!" Relief wasn't enough to describe what she felt. Caroline didn't realize it, but she had been holding her breath the whole time. Now her lungs ached with finally receiving air._

 _"_ _We need to get him in an incubator!-Nicu! Whatever the hell that box is called!" Ordered the head vet. He never did well under pressure. "And someone figure out why he's not crying!"_

 _"_ _He may be having trouble breathing, look for signs of pneumonia or respiratory distress!" Another added._

 _The baby wasn't out of the woods yet, but Caroline couldn't help but have high hopes for him. The fact that he was alive was a miracle in itself. Looking back down at him, she smiled just a little bit._

Don't worry, little guy. _She thought._ I won't give up on you.

 _End of Flashback_

Lake listened to Caroline's story with wide, disbelieving eyes. _So that was how Red came to be._

 _"_ _What was wrong with him?"_ She asked as soon as Caroline had finished.

 _"_ _His lungs weren't fully developed."_ Caroline still felt nostalgic sadness as she signed. _"We were so afraid he'd get phenomena or some other infection, that we kept him and his mother in observation for months. I was still giving him medicine on a daily basis when Caesar freed them."_

For a second, fear struck Lake. _"Red still needed medicine? Even though he was better?"_

Caroline quickly saw her concern. _"Not that kind of medicine."_ She reassured. _"Just vitamins and nutrients. Medicine that would help him grow."_

Lake relaxed. For that one minute, she thought Red still needed medication and by freeing him and taking him to the forest, Caesar had inadvertently done more harm than good. She was relieved that wasn't the case.

 _"_ _Where's Ariyah now?"_ Asked Caroline. _"I haven't seen her or Red since they were at the zoo."_

It didn't surprise Lake that Caroline would ask about Ariyah. What did surprise her was the pang of saddens she felt at remembering her.

Lake didn't interact with Ariyah that much, but she knew the female gorilla to be a stubborn, grouchy ape. Ariyah respected Caesar and followed his rule, but she made it clear no one could tell her what to do. No one could ask her to do anything without a rude remark in return.

 _"_ _She died two years ago."_ Lake signed sadly. _"The last humans we saw before the ones in the city killed her."_

Caroline drew in a breath and blinked in shock. _No!_ Just like Charles and everything else from the past, Caroline never stopped thinking about Ariyah and Red. She doubted she's ever see them again, but she always hoped they were happy and safe in the forest. She hoped she could protect them like she could protect Caesar by spying on the AO soldiers…Now it seemed her being in the base did nothing to prevent Ariyah's death at the hands of enemies that weren't even in the Colonel's army.

She sniffled as tears build up in her eyes. Even though it was completely out of her hands, Caroline felt as if she had failed in protecting them.

Lake shed a few tears of her own. Most avoided Ariyah, but Dolly had been one of her only friends and she had mourned for her. Even those who disliked Ariyah felt sad for losing her. But no one had been more hurt by her death than Red. From what Lake knew, Red and Ariyah's relationship had been rocky as both were equally defiant. Ariyah wasn't in any way a bad parent, she was just overprotective of Red and suspicious of any friend he made. When asked about it, Red would say it all because his mother missed his father and siblings and her old home-The Forest of Fruit, the same place where Cornelia had come from. Wherever that was.

Despite all that, when Ariyah died, Red-then orphaned and alone-hid away into a shell of himself and never really was the same after that.

After drying away her tears, Caroline finally started signing again. _"What happened to those humans that killed her?"_

Lake sniffled and shook her head. _"I don't know. I wasn't there when it happened…Caesar had Pope and the Ape Army search for them but they disappeared."_ She went silent again, thinking about that horrible day. _"It's strange…"_ She started. _"Ever since she died, Red has been…Angry…"_

 _"_ _Angry?"_ Asked Caroline, suddenly focused again.

 _"_ _Yeah…Particularly at Caesar…He wouldn't tell anyone why…"_

Angry at Caesar? Caroline's nose was still wet and her cheeks damp from her tears, but now her thoughts were back on Red, and what McCullough said about him. Now Elaine had never seen the Colonel actually break an ape before, but she knew the kind of damage he could do. He had driven normally timid and non-violent apes into doing the most unthinkable of things before. Carlos was an example of that.

Caroline wasn't married to the Colonel at the time, but Will told her that he said the same thing about the elderly bonobo that he said about Red.

That he was also _useful_ to him.

* * *

The place where the rebels met was the one place no one would expect rebels to meet in-the kitchen. All soldiers and Donkeys were expected to take turns doing kitchen duty in the base, so seeing a bunch of soldiers and apes in the small room wasn't unusual at all and the room was one of few places that didn't have cameras set. Even if there were just two rebels in the kitchen, they knew how to communicate in a way that no onlookers would pick up on.

Today, it was Will and Tanoddah who were that only two rebels in a room full of the Colonel's soldiers.

What little Will knew about the female gorilla came from other rebels. Her colony of gorillas had been imprisoned in the base since she was a preteen. As she grew, Tanoddah had developed a talent for reading the soldiers: she knew how to play the part of the obedient donkey…Though that didn't stop her from fighting back when given the chance.

Even now, even with soldiers everywhere, Tanoddah's blue and green eyes seemed to watch every human in the kitchen. Always watching, waiting.

Will hoped she wouldn't blow their cover.

Standing side by side, her doing the dishes while he prepared someone's meal, it was Tanoddah who spoke first.

 _"_ _Where's Red and Winter?"_ Only she didn't use Sign Language.

Most soldiers didn't know Sign Language, but recognized it as the language almost all apes used to communicate, so it was too risky to use it in the kitchen and spoken language would be suicide. In order to communicate, the rebels had invented a new language. One that only rebels would know.

They called it, the Kitchen Language. Instead of using words to communicate, they used the objects, the food and making hand gestures such as pointing or itching. To any onlookers, it would just look like a soldier and an ape working next to each other.

So when Tanoddah asked that question, she asked it by scratching her bottom lip for _Red_ , scratched her chest for _white_ , pointed at herself for _Gorilla_ , and shrugged her shoulders for _where_.

Will, Preacher and Hazell had been the ones to make up the language. Then Hazell taught it to Rowena and Cortez, who taught it to Tanoddah, and other ape rebels while Will and Preacher taught it to Caroline and the other human rebels.

Will outlined his face where McCullough's facial hair grew. _"The Colonel."_ Then he put away dishes in a cupboard. _"has them locked away."_

Tanoddah frowned. 'Locked away' was never a good thing. She picked up a cup, _"He."_ then began to wash it. _"brainwash" She finished the question by itching her lip and chest. "them?"_

Will rubbed his hands. _"Maybe."_ He glanced around, pretending to have overheard Weber's joke but really just making sure no one was watching their secret conversation.

Like always, no one paid any attention to them. Despite the situation they were really in, Will often felt as if he were back in high school. Resuming his old role as the 'invisible kid'. However, in a place like the base, being invisible was the best thing one could hope for.

 _"_ _He might"_ Will picked up a cup with one hand and rubbed the other on his shirt and then picked up a napkin. _"try"_ With the napkin, he picked up a dirty knife to hand to Tanoddah and itched his lip. _"torture Red."_

Holding her hand close to her chest, Tanoddah made the sign for _why_ but only so Will could see it.

 _"_ _Caroline"_ In the Kitchen Language, Caroline's name sign was itching the ear. Signifying her many earrings. _"heard"_ Will itched the skin next to his ear than picked up anther cup and pretended to pick something out of it before placing it upside down on the counter. _"him say he has plans."_

At this, Tanoddah's normally calm face began to falter. She knew all too well what that could mean. She thought about Red and Winter. The fear Winter displayed and the anger hinted in Red's eyes. She could tell the reddish furred gorilla didn't like Winter, that was obvious from the moment she met him. But that didn't stop Red from protecting him and the child gorilla, Pinto.

She hoped whatever the Colonel was planning, it wouldn't change that part of Red. Tanoddah itched her lip and touched a towel. _"Can Red be saved?"_

Will shrugged his shoulder. _"I don't know."_ Earlier that day, Will and a few other rebels decided they had to do anther mass escape. Seeing as McCullough seemed more…Absent than usual. That usually meant he was planning something, and it almost always included death. Just last night, he had another 'package' delivered to San Francisco and Will barely had enough time to sneak his latest clue inside it.

Fearing for the worst, Will had wanted to make sure all those taken from San Fransisco would be sent back in the mass escape. But due to Red and Winter being locked away, Lake being a servant to the Colonel and no one knowing where the laboratory was, only Andy and Lucky would be in the group of escaped apes.

Even if Will knew where Red was though, he doubted any rebel could sneak him out without the Colonel finding out. Since McCullough's plan seemed to involve Red somehow, he'd likely guard Red like a dog guards a bone...Like how he guards Rose...

Tanoddah itched her chest. _"Winter"_ She then touched a drawer. _"Safe?"_

Will touched the same drawer with a sad shake of the head. Bringing up one finger to his own chest. _"No one is safe."_

* * *

 _Flashback:_

 _Needless to say, McCullough was not impressed with Preacher's failed attempt at interrogating Hazell. If anything, it angered him. Preacher's punishment for not getting answers was to clean the cell Hazell was held in every time Boyle, who would be interrogating her from now on, was 'done with her' as McCullough had put it._

 _Just the way he said those three words sent a chill down the young soldier's back, though he couldn't understand why._

 _Preacher didn't think or dwell on what the Colonel had meant by those words until the first time he had to clean the cell. It started with him walking over to the holding cells with a hose and bucket of bleach (which he thought was a little odd, considering that Hazell would be in the cell with him as he cleaned)._

 _On the outside, the holding chamber seemed as dark and creepy as always. But when Preacher opened the door, he was met with the sound of banging._

 _"_ ** _Tell me!"_** _Boyle's voice, loud as it echoed in the hall, yelled._ ** _"Who else stole food?! How many more of you are there?!"_**

 _Preacher almost fell back outside at the yell. The sheer volume of it caused all his senses to suddenly become fully alert._

 _As the banging continued, Preacher willed himself forward. Slowly walking down the hallway. All the while, feeling as if he were in one of those horror movies where something is going to jump out and scare him._

 _When he got closer to the door, Preacher heard what could only be described as breathing._ Pained, injured _breathing._

 _Hazell._

 _Whatever answer Boyle was hoping to get, Hazell didn't give it to him._

 ** _"_** ** _You bitch!"_** _There was another bang, and a scrapping sound. Preacher suddenly felt cold when he realized what was happening._ ** _"You better tell me what you know or else I'll make it worse for you!"_**

 _Just as suddenly as it started, the door swung open and Boyle slammed it behind him. He looked surprised to see Preacher there for a minute, but then he chuckled. "No wonder Colonel had me take over." He pointed at the door with his thumb. "She's a hard nut to crack."_

 _With that, he walked away. Taking his mocking laugh with him. Preacher wasn't sure if the bullying soldier was mocking him or if he actually meant it what he said about Hazell. He was just glad he didn't decide to spay him with his own hose-or worse, dump the bucket of bleach on him._

 _He nervously glanced at the door. Taking in a breath before walking up and opening it._

 _He had just barely stepped one foot into the cell when he saw Hazell. Just like before, she was chained in the center of the cell. Only now, she laid on her side on the floor in an almost fetal position (except that her arms were restrained behind her back). Her breathing was low and shaky, as if each air intake hurt._

 _Boyle did more than just beat her…He had beaten her so severely, that he made her vomit...And now, Hazell laid in a puddle of her own bile._

 _A sickening realization overcame Preacher as his gaze drifted from Hazell to the bucket. It felt as if the bleach was glaring right back at him. Now he understood why the Colonel wanted him to use it._

 _The bleach would do more than just clean the cell...It could hurt Hazell, disfigure her body to something less like an ape. McCullough ordered the bleach to continue with the torture even after Boyle left._

 _And Preacher was the one to use it on her._

No! _The voice was loud and clear. Louder than McCullough's orders. Louder than any voice Preacher had ever known._ No!

Colonels orders. _Said another voice._ You're already in enough trouble, do you really think she's worth disobeying the Colonel?

 _Preacher forced his feet forward, now he was inside the cell. He closed the door and it made a slamming noise behind him, causing him to jump._

 _When he looked back at Hazell, he almost jumped again. She was now looking up at him, her eyes blackened with bruises and her lip and nose bloody, but her spring colored eyes were just as he remembered._

 _Despite her obvious pain, she still wasn't afraid of him...She doesn't know what's in the bucket, or what Preacher could do to her with it._

 _For several heartbeats, the two stared at each other. She was ape, but she was still a living being...No different than him, deep down inside._

 _He couldn't do this. Preacher had seen apes get wiped, beaten, tattooed and killed by other soldiers, but this is wrong on a different level. He knew what bleach could do to skin-no, to an entire body if it were dumped on a person. It didn't matter if she was ape, or of she were a slave. She didn't deserve to be mutilated like that._

I'm going to get killed for this. _With that thought, Preacher turned on the hose and only sprayed the vomit puddle down the drain in the floor. His thought was to just get rid of that awful puddle and then go but he made the mistake of looking at her again._

 _Preacher stared at her for the longest time before he forced himself to leave the room._

 _End of Flashback_

In the quiet darkness of his room, Preacher wondered if McCullough would make other soldiers torture him with bleach, or let them beat him until his insides are broken and damaged. It wouldn't surprise him if any of them decide to do them without the Colonel ordering them to.

 _That's not why I'm locked up in here._ Preacher thought, not trusting it to be safe enough to speak. _He wants to interrogate me, so he can find out more about the rebels…And since I'm a…Or was, a follower to him…Would that mean he'll interrogate me here or in that cell he kept Hazell in? Would he use the same methods?_

All this ran through his mind. Next to his memories, they were all he had now… _Especially_ his memories.

As a rebel, Preacher knew some of the names of those who secretly opposed the Colonel. Counting himself, Will and Caroline, Preacher only knew of thirteen soldiers who were secretly rebels, and that was just the ones above ground.

There was Robbins, who preferred to go by 'Cliff', was the one to inform him and Will of Hazell going into labor. He was also the one who'd mess with the security cameras in the base, make them seem useless or buggy to McCullough but secretly record anything that went on in the base so Will could send them to the city.

Jefferson, who was more commonly known as 'Jeff', was one of the base's helicopter pilots and helped organize the mass escape plans as well as actually fly the escapees to the city.

Chambers and Eder, who all the ape rebels knew as 'Lisa' and 'Kyle', were the ones who purposely lied to the Colonel about their inventory notes just to make it easier for the rebel apes to steel food.

And then there were the ape rebels: Cortez, Tanoddah, Rowena, and Hazell. There had to be more, but Preacher didn't know any others. There had to be other soldiers who worked in the laboratory but he and Will never met any of them so there was no way of knowing which side they were on.

The way it worked was everyone, no matter if they were ape or soldier, had a role or purpose in their cause. Some spied, some organized, some planned, some stole, and then, when the time was right, they acted. They risked their own lives rebelling against the Colonel, one wrong move and they could all die, but it was a risk worth taking if it meant saving lives.

If McCullough wanted information out of Preacher, he'd get enough to kill most of the rebels…But not _all_ of them. _If he finds out about Will or Caroline though…Then we're all doomed._

Preacher wondered what had become of his fellow rebels. He hadn't seen either of them since that horrible day Hazell died…At _his_ hands…He could only hope that none of the others had been found out, and that hope was strengthened by the fact that he hadn't heard any familiar voices belonging to a rebel down here…Though that could change at any given time.

Since he was locked up in this unknown prison, there wasn't much Preacher could do to help the rebels which made him restless. The others could need help or someone could be dying, and here he is literally left in the dark.

The renegade soldier suddenly became aware of footsteps. The walls outside his room echoed, so every time a soldier walked through them it made it sound like it came everywhere.

 _They're coming for me._ Preacher thought. None of them had so far, but that didn't mean they wouldn't torture or interrogate him today or tomorrow.

"He's so ugly-all of them are, but gorillas? Bleh!"

Preacher felt his eyes widen. He stopped breathing for a minute and sat very still. Listening intently to the voice.

Lang? What was she doing here?

"Oh please, you think _he's_ ugly? The servant called Cortez is much worse, most of his body is burned!" The other was Travis.

Boyle's followers. Since Boyle stole his sandwich, Preacher avoided the three all together. Funny, he always thought Boyle was the worst and the most dangerous of the three. Lang was more of a gossip queen than anything else-although if she were ordered to, she wouldn't hesitate to shoot the crap out of someone. Travis, meanwhile, seemed more like the type who was more interested in getting the job done and laugh at Boyle's antics than actually participate in it.

Preacher never thought or considered either of the two to be close to the Colonel. At least, not before now.

"True, true. Though he deserved those scars." Lang huffed. Even though she was hidden by walls and darkness, Preacher could feel the disgust in her voice. "When I was a kid, I loved that movie Tarzan. Why is it that talking apes are only fun and cute when they're animated? Real life ones are just disgusting! They stink like hell!"

"I know, I know." Travis had to be rolling his eyes at her rant.

"What does the Colonel see in him anyway?" Lang sounded more annoyed than curious. "I admit, his reddish fur is kinda nice-little ombre never hurts, but how is he _worth_ anything?"

Reddish fur?

"I don't know, he told me there's something different about this 'Red' and he calls him his 'key'…Whatever that means."

Red? Preacher recognized the name immediately. He remembered Red, and the other gorilla-Winter. He and Will met them the night they freed the children. Robins and Jefferson were two of the rebel soldiers who helped get the children out. _Red is here too?!_

"Anyway, our orders are to help McCullough break him so he can be controlled-same old, same old."

"Ok, but I still don't see why he chose to keep him in the same room as that old guy the others…" The voices trailed off. Leaving Preacher in silence.

 _Red is the key._ Preacher repeated Travis' words in his head. _Key to what?_

* * *

Koba yawned as he groggily woke up. The nausea and headache that had originally driven him back to sleep was now gone, though his arm still ached from having an IV in it. As he blinks his eyes open, he feels a hand gently place itself on the side of his face. When Koba looked to see who it was, he saw Tori. She was still sitting next to his bed.

Tori met his gaze the second he looked at her. She spent the entire time he was asleep sitting with him, never leaving his side. Thinking better of it, she was about to pull her hand away but then, much to her surprise, Koba placed his own hand on top of hers. Holding it to his face and closing his eyes.

Koba never used to like human touch. He learned from all his years in cages that touch from human hands resulted in pain. But the warmth from Tori's hand was different. Her touch calmed all the storms in him, keeping him from breaking.

Tori watched his face worriedly. He didn't seem troubled while he was sleeping, but now she wondered if she missed something. Any hint or clue of a nightmare she didn't pick up on.

But then, Koba opened his eyes again, and returned his gaze to hers.

Slowly, the corners of his mouth lifted. Wordlessly letting her know he was alright.

Relief sunk in. Tori returned the smile, letting the hope that despite what had happened, everything would be fine and Koba wouldn't be effected by it.

As they gazed at each other, Koba realized he couldn't feel the IV, or any other aches. It was as if he suddenly became numbed to pain. How-?

Suddenly, the entrance opened and a familiar human voice spoke. "Hey guys, we found Carlos!"

The scarred bonobo and pink haired human turned their heads and saw Kemp appear. Stone followed behind him, holding the hand of the elderly bonobo as he did.

 _Ok, good._ Thought Koba as he rubbed the last bit of sleep from his eye. _My father's ok._

Though that relief was quickly interrupted when Carlos suddenly, without warning, broke away from Stone and Kemp and charged right at Tori! It happened so fast, barely of the humans had time to react.

Koba himself didn't fully comprehend what was happening until he saw his father push Tori out of her chair and stand over her on the floor, growling as she held her arms protectively over her face.

 **"** **LEAVE HER!"**

In a matter of seconds, it stopped. Everyone froze. Carlos looked at him, his eyes wide. Sanity temporarily returning to him.

Koba stared back, shivering from the shock of what just happened and from his own anger. How dare his father attack Tori like that! "Leave her." He repeated in a somewhat calmer tone, albeit still angry.

Carlos growled one more time at Tori before backing away from her. The sanity in his eyes fading again.

The room slowly changed. The faces of the humans-Ellie, Malcolm, Kempt, Foster, Dreyfus, Tori, became faces of soldiers and Caesar, Blue Eyes, Rocket, Stone, Maurice and Luca suddenly became the faces of of enslaved apes from the base.

The only ones who didn't change were Koba's and Dolly's.

"…B-Baaad humans…!" He rasped, growing more and more frightened. **"S-Soldiers!"**

"What the hell?" Dreyfus was visibly disturbed by Carlos' odd behavior.

Ellie, on the other hand, recognized the behavior for what it was. The elderly ape was delirious! "Ohhh dear…" She breathed as her mind raced.

"Carlos?" Caesar didn't like where this was going. He instinctively held an arm out in front of Blue Eyes, keeping him from the hallucinating bonobo.

"What's wrong with him?" Malcolm asked as he glanced at Kemp and Stone.

"We don't know, we found him like that." Kemp thought that bringing Carlos back to his children would calm him down but it seems to have only made it worse.

"Drugs, maybe?" Asked Stone, keeping his worried eyes on Carlos.

 **"** **NOOOOOO!"**

Everyone jumped. Carlos yelled so loudly, it felt like the walls shook. Footsteps could be heard from the floor above them, signaling that Carlos had alarmed others in the building.

Carlos just stood there in the middle of the room, ranting and shaking. He wasn't violent, but it was hard to tell if he'd stay that way.

Caesar and the apes could only stare in mute shock at him, having never seen an ape-or anyone-act like this before. Even Koba's anger had melted away to shock and worry for his father.

Then, suddenly!

 **"** **YOUR NAME IS CARLOS!"** Carlos began yelling again. **"YOU! HAVE! NO! LIFE! NO ONE! NOTHING! YOU ARE MY SPY! SPY ON HER! TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!-No! Don't want to! Don't want to spy!"**

It was as if Carlos suddenly became two people, one being angry and the other being scared.

 **"** **MAGDALENE, RUN! RUN MAGDALENE, RUN!"**

Magdalene?

Aaron could not have appeared at a worse time. His foot barely stepped into the room before Carlos suddenly charged at him. **"BAD HUMAN!"**

"Aaahhh!" Now Aaron was on the ground with the elderly ape holding him down.

 **"** **KOBA, DOLLY! RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!"**

Koba and Dolly glanced at each other, both having the same scared looks on their faces though Dolly looked closer to tears than he was. Neither of them knew what to do.

The madness was suddenly stopped when a gunshot ran in the air. Then, just as suddenly as he attacked, Carlos fell. A tranquilizer dart sticking out of his neck.

Dolly shrieked and made a move towards him but Maurice held her back, preventing her from dislodging the IV in her arm.

"Why didn't you guys have a 'sleepy-time' gun?" Asked Finney as he appeared from his hiding place, holding the tranquilizer gun in his hand. "He was on a rampage-!"

"Shut up, Finney!" Yelled Dreyfus, regaining his bearings. Looking at Carlos in an almost fearful glance, he added. "An-And someone put him in restraints!"

Blinking away her shock, Ellie ran to Carlos' body and pulled him off of Aaron. Riley and other nurses, who had been hiding to avoid getting caught in the craziness, helped.

The second the elderly ape was off of him, Aaron got to his feet. "What the heck is his problem? He could have killed me!" He complained angrily. "What was he yelling about anyway?"

"How are we supposed to know?" Argued Kemp. "He was rambling like that when Stone and I found him!"

"Duh, because he's crazy!" Aaron inched away, no doubt wanting to distance himself from the elderly bonobo. "Just keep him away from me!" With that, he ran off.

Cowardly human.

Even though Carlos was no longer attacking anyone, the tension was still there. Rocket and Blue eyes were both signing furiously at Caesar, who could barely answer them due to his own flustered mind while Luca kept his eyes on Carlos, despite the bonobo being unconscious.

The noises fell to background as Dolly's gaze fell from the humans and the apes to the tiled floor. The only thing she could hear now was her own breathing and the distinct pounding of her heart.

 _Is this my fault?_ She wondered as her body trembled. _Did this happen…Because I couldn't protect him?_

What little Dolly remembered of last night was vaguely similar to that of her worst nightmare: She remembered waking up to a shuffling noise. She had risen her head up, and saw a figure bent over Koba…Then there was a fight and then…The last thing she remembered was Carlos running out of the room.

When she woke up and saw Koba still asleep and their father gone, Dolly had immediately feared he may have been hurt by their attackers. Now, it looked like they did more than just hurt him. They did something to him, why else would he act like that?

 _I didn't protect him…I could have lost him too!_

A familiar flashback replayed itself before her eyes: The bottle, the oranges, the big black caterpillar screaming…And then…Her heart pounded faster as the face of her mother…

 _No, stop!_ Her mind cried out. Dolly shook herself, desperate to be rid of the images. She thought she buried these memories to the deepest reaches of her mind and locked them away in a cage long ago, but they escaped and they came back just as easily as the tears as they ran down her face.

 _Father is not gone. Mother is, but not Father, he's still here._ She reminded herself as she felt the gentle hand of Maurice touch her shoulder. Even without looking at him, she could feel the concern in the orangutan. _It's not your fault…None of this is your fault…You did what you could, just remember that…You did what you could…_

Dolly wished she could believe her own thoughts.

Meanwhile, Koba struggled with his own shock. Carlos may have had delusions before, but never any like that. Even his most erratic withdrawal symptoms was never that extreme...They never scared him or Dolly before either...Made them worried maybe, but never actually frightened them.

 _Your name is Carlos. You have no life. No one, nothing. You are my spy. Spy on her. Tell me what you know._ Koba repeated his father's yelling in his mind.

His father wasn't, at all, in his right mind. He had to have been drugged, that's what everyone believed. But Koba wondered just how much of that was true. That 'no life and being a spy' talk was too...Eerie to just be a drug-induced delusion.

 _Then what could have caused it?_ Before, Koba had blamed his father's problems on the years of alcohol and drugs. But now he began to really fear that there may be something _else_ wrong with him.

Koba jumped when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He glanced to his side and found Tori, looking at him with concerned eyes. Despite Carlos pushing her to the floor, she didn't seem wounded. _"Are you ok?"_ She signed.

 _No._ His mind answered. Koba didn't feel ok. Not even Tori's company could make him feel better. His bottom lip quivered as he pulled Tori into a hug. _I'm not ok._

Tori could practically feel him falling apart. She hugged him tightly and, despite being attacked by Carlos just minutes earlier, shed a tear of her own for him.

Unspoken or not, the question remained in the air like a dark cloud. Why?…Just, why?

* * *

Dot knew she was tied up before she opened her eyes. The tight rope around her arms and legs was the first thing she felt when she started to wake up. The second thing was the pain in her head. She recognized this as the aftermath of being drugged.

 _What happened?_ She wondered as she shook herself awake. Dot found herself laying on her side in the grass. She was surrounded by tall trees and blurs of green. So close, she could practically smell the dewdrops on all the leaves.

How did she-?

Dot glanced up and gasped.

The face looking at her, was a skull. Black, empty eye sockets staring back at her, it's teeth grinning at her in a sneer. Everything else on the figure was covered in black fabric.

She stared at it with her heart pounding in her chest so loudly she wondered if this creature could hear it. They stared at each other, the thing never making any movement. If she wasn't tied up, Dot would have ran. Baring her teeth was her only defense.

The creature being so still only fed her terror at it. It felt like this thing was either a statue or something her paranoid mind dreamt up...Or a monster, waiting to pounce.

She didn't dare take her eyes off of it.

Then suddenly, something grabbed her from behind. Holding her down. All she saw was two black gloved hands and another skull face grinning down at her.

The first skull face rose up, revealing a large knife. The creature raised it up, preparing to bring it down on her.

Dot shrieked.

* * *

He should have gotten Cora and Fifer. That way, he'd cover more ground. But Pope hadn't had time to even think about anyone else aside from Dot.

Pope was, by now, either lost or in a part of the city that not even the humans had entered in years. If it weren't for the tops of some buildings and the long, cemented trees with the red, blue and yellow light boxes in some places, he would have thought he were in some weird forest.

 _Come on, Dot._ He thought as he looked around helplessly. _Where are you?_

Right then, he heard it. A scream. _Her_ scream.

Everything else stopped. Pope's eyes dilated, hearing nothing else. Without thinking, he ran on all fours in that direction. Long grass scraped his face, rocks and unknown debris cut his hands, but he didn't stop running. Nothing would stop Pope from getting to her. **"Dot!"**

* * *

Dot's mind went blank as that knife hung above her. For years, she had wished for death. For so many nights, she hoped she'd go to sleep and never wake up again. How many times has she secretly begged and pleaded for her suffering to end? Or how many times she'd watch the soldiers and wonder why they wouldn't just kill her?

That was all before she met Pope. Before she had a taste of life again.

And now…Only now…Death comes for her and with it, taking away any hope or chance of being any life again.

 _At least I got to know you, Pope._ The split second voice would have been the last thing she ever thought.

But just as the skull face started to bring down the knife, Pope burst through the bushes and pounced on the creature from behind. He brought his long arms on it once before grabbing it and throwing it into a tree.

It screamed…The skull face sounded _human_!

"Pope!" Dot cried out.

Pope punched the other skull face and threw it into the bushes before turning to Dot and untying her. He started to sign if she were alright, but got lost in her eyes. Dot's silvery blue eyes, which looked right into his own golden ones, shined with a brightness to them that Pope had never seen before...And in that same second, the corners of her mouth began to curve upwards.

It was the closest thing to happiness that Pope had ever seen in her.

Then suddenly-!

BING!

Pain exploded in the back of his head. For a split second, Pope couldn't see anything but stars and all he could hear was the echo of the sound in his ears. When he opened his eyes, he saw double of everything.

"D-Dot-!" Pope tried to yell, but he couldn't quite hear his own voice. A surge of panic ran through him at that moment. "R-Run!"

Through his double vision, he saw Dot-or two of them-turn and run. He could barely hear the sound. He didn't have time to turn around and look at his attacker before being hit again. This time, Pope fell to the ground.

 _This is it._ He thought. _I'm going to die._ Even now, Pope didn't fear death. He feared for Dot. He hoped she'd get to safety before the skull faces get her.

Despite the ringing in his ears, despite his consciousness fading, Pope thought he heard a voice. He wasn't sure if he had imagined it, or if he truly heard it but somehow, three words-spoken in a voice other than his own-went into the darkness with him.

"Hello again, Pope."

* * *

Milo could no longer stay in that bed. The more he did, he thought about all those still trapped within the base and felt as if time were running out for them. As if every minute he stayed in the comforts of the blanket and pillow, was another minute someone else was closer to death.

The cold floor sent a shockwave up his back when his feet first touched it, but that was least of his worries. When he stood up, he felt light headed and almost had to sit back down again.

 _Stupid soldiers._ He thought bitterly.

Milo only remembered how he and Pope, Dot, Carlos and Spazz got here in small bits. He remembered the flying machine landing, the two soldiers jumping out and dragging Hazell's body with them, he and the other apes jumping out and Hopely crying out before a soldier saw them and then…Then nothing.

Apparently it had been Pope, the fishnet scarred ape, who had dragged him away. The soldiers must have thought he was dead and just left him where he had fallen. Otherwise, they would have kept beating him.

As he stood up again, Milo did what he always did when he was alone with his thoughts. He reflected. He thought back on his earlier days in the base. He remembered feeling so confused back then, not understanding why his owners let other humans take him there and why the humans in uniform would hurt other, ordinary, humans. Milo used to watch every movement the humans made when they were around another ape. Hoping to learn their tricks from afar and show these humans what he can do.

Tricks. He thought it was all an act. Just like Tommy, and other humans, taught him to think everything was just an act.

 _How could you be so stupid?_ He cursed at himself. _Why couldn't you see what was right in front of you?_

But he couldn't have known. Tommy had taught him what abuse was, but he had failed to teach him what death was. Even his own suicide didn't teach him the concept of dying. Let alone that humans can abuse other humans too.

He knew now. And what he knew haunted him.

 _Can't trust anyone...Human, or ape._ He reminded himself. _Trust is a tool the humans use to get what they want._

That was what kept him alive in the base. It kept him from standing out like Hazell, yet made him cold and hard like Nemo, one of the bonobo Donkeys. But did it apply here? Even though these humans weren't soldiers and the apes weren't being brainwashed?...Even if Koba and Dolly are here?

 _No._ He thought. _Something not right here._ Milo didn't know why or where the feeling came from, but he felt like he were a duck floating in the river and something was in the water, waiting to pounce. Everyone seemed to think the city was safe and maybe it really was but Milo couldn't ignore the feeling that something was brewing just under their noses.

* * *

Ellie was still shaken up over that whole scene with Carlos when Riley pulled her aside.

"Maybe it was Heroin." She started, assuming this would be about the unconscious bonobo, who was now restrained to one of the other beds in that room. "Or PCP, but I don't know how anyone could have gotten their hands on either one."

"Oh ask the right people and you'll find it somewhere. Users and dealers always have their ways." Said Riley dismiss fully. "I actually wanted to talk to you about what was found in that body."

Ellie stiffened. Between Carlos's attack and the aftermath of it, she had momentarily forgotten all about that body. "What did you find?"

"Firstly," Riley dug into her pocket and pulled out a plastic CD case with a DVD inside and handed it to her. "we found this in the man's gut."

Ellie looked the case over as she held it. Written in black sharpie read _'Rose'_ on one side of it. "Hmm...Rose?"

"Do you know what it means?" Riley asked, curiously.

Ellie shook her head. She could guess this was Will's work-which would mean that the dead man came from the Alpha-Omega base, though she didn't know what 'Rose' meant. "We'll watch this DVD later and see what's on it." She looked back at Riley. "Maybe there's something on it that can help us."

"Maybe it would explain why the body isn't the same person." Riley suggested.

Wait, what? Ellie frowned. "What do you mean 'isn't the same person'?"

* * *

"You idiots! Control your damn ape friends!" Came Aaron's angry yell, cutting through the still tense air.

 _Oh no, now what?_ Thought Malcolm. The last thing he and the others needed right now was more drama.

He wasn't expecting to find Aaron coming into the room, dragging a bloodied ape with him, when he turned his head. "What the-? What happened?!" He asked as he and Foster, Kemp and a few of the other apes rushed over.

Before they could get to them, Aaron let the ape fall to the ground. He was either unconscious or too badly hurt to stand on his own. "He killed someone, that's what! I just found him in the dog park like this!"

The accusation temporarily stunned Malcolm. _Another one?_

Caesar slid to Rocket and Luca's sides as he stared at the ape. Despite being covered in it, the blood didn't hide the fishnet scars.

Pope.

 _Of course he'd cause trouble._ Caesar frowned, thinking back to how Pope learned of where he came from. _Had that angered him enough to kill a human?_

Koba stole a glance at his sister, who only stared at Pope in confusion. The scarred chimpanzee hadn't been involved in his plan to kill Caesar and go to war with humans, but Koba wouldn't be surprised if Pope had actually killed some human.

Most lab apes were like him and Dolly: Originating from a different place, like a zoo or ape research facility before being placed in the labs. Only knowing the sting of getting a shot before learning the torture of being a test subject. But not Pope, who had spent his entire life in labs. In some ways, the fishnet scarred chimp understood pain better than he understood freedom.

Koba knew bad things had been done to Pope, but he always believed that what the chimp suffered may have been worse than what he himself had gone through...Though only now did he begin to wonder just how much the suffering had damaged Pope.

"Well…Was it in self-defense?" Malcolm asked when he found his voice. He sounded meek, even to his own ears.

Although he asked in a non-challenging tone, Aaron looked at him as if he was ready to fight. "I don't know and I don't give a shit why he did it! He _killed_ somebody!"

At this point, Luca was getting in-between them, not liking the hostility the younger human was showing. Some of the other apes backed away from them, Distancing themselves from Aaron in case he decides to attack.

Despite Aaron's aggression, Malcolm stayed calm. Forcing his own wariness down. "Ok, then how do you know he kill-"

"Because I found this with him!" Aaron suddenly pulled out a large, bloody knife from his bag, startling everyone in the room. He handed the blade to Dreyfus, who looked the thing over with a confused frown.

The room suddenly became silent. Rocket, Stone, Foster and Kempt put Pope on an empty bed and then just stared at his unconscious, blood covered form. Did he really do it?

Caesar only frowned at Pope. His mind already made up. That fishnet scarred chimp must have seen an opportunity to get revenge and he took it. _I should have known you were trouble._

"Pope don't need weapon."

Caesar almost growled when he heard Koba's voice. _Almost._ He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt this wave of anger towards the bonobo. He forcefully swallowed the noise down before he could utter it as he looked at Koba.

Koba's gaze was locked on Pope, frowning in thought before looking at the others. " Koba beat Carver to death. Didn't need weapon. Pope don't need weapon to kill either."

Considering that Koba and Dolly were friends with Pope, Caesar would have expected a better defense than that...But come to think of it.

"Koba right." Rocket met Caesar's eyes and the eyes of all the humans. "Pope strong ape. Apes use arms to kill."

The humans all went silent, mulling over this new possibility. Only Dreyfus noticed that Aaron had strangely gone quiet. His eyes studding the group intently. At the corner of his eyes, Dreyfus spotted Tori glaring at Aaron, possibly noticing the same thing.

"...But if Pope didn't need a weapon to kill, why did he use a knife?" Asked Kemp.

"Forget that, where in the world did he get that thing?" Foster dug into his coat pocket and pulled out a pocket knife. "See this? This is what everyone carries nowadays. It's easily concealed and easy to carry." He pointed at the bloodied knife Dreyfus still held. "That's a full kitchen knife, the kind they use in horror movies. Something you only carry if you're gonna cut something up-or stab someone." He added as he put his pocket knife back.

Foster was right. Malcolm had a kitchen knife in his and Ellie's and Alexander's place, but they only used it for cutting meat. They didn't even bring it with them when they went to the forest.

"What is wrong with you people?! He killed someone! He needs to be put in jail for crying out loud!" Aaron suddenly yelled, making everyone jump.

"Now hang on Aaron-" Dreyfus tried but Aaron won't listen.

"Shut up!"

For a second, Dreyfus didn't believe he just heard that from one of his own followers. Sure he'd been told to 'shut up' before by Tori and the others, but never by someone who agreed with him.

The angry human suddenly looked at the apes in disgust. "We were right ten years ago, you animals deserve to be locked up!"

The growl that was originally intended for Koba suddenly erupted at Aaron instead. Caesar would have lunged at him too if it weren't for Luca being in the way.

"Aaron-!" Malcolm didn't need to look at any of the apes to feel their anger.

"No! They're murderers! They're killing us off and you're letting them get away with it because you're all buddy-buddy with them!" Aaron's face began to turn pink as he ranted. It almost looked like steam was coming out of his ears. "It's a cover up! It's-!"

"There was no murder!" Ellie's voice suddenly cut through Aaron's rant, silencing him and all the apes angry growls.

Malcom froze. He blinked as his brain tried to comprehend what he just heard. "What?"

Ellie was pale and wide eyed, horrified and shocked at the news herself. "Riley just told me the body parts belonged to different people and two of those limbs were _female_!"

Forgetting all about Aaron's outburst, the room feel into silence. First came the shock, then the true horror of what this meant sunk in.

"...Holy shit!" Foster exclaimed as chills ran up and down his spine. "It was a set up!"

* * *

 **A's/N: Oh boy, lotta stuff to explain here! X3**

 **Why don't we start with Red. So I read Revalations and the War for The Planet of The Apes novalization and not much about Red is ever talked about. What we do know is he followed Koba and disliked Caesar-which of course led to him manipulating Grey, endangering the females and children so Caesar would send them back into the forest, attempt to kill Cornelia, make other apes hunt her down, try to kill her (again) while she was in the middle of helping another female ape give birth (which was actually kinda sh!tty of him), killing Grey and then joining the Colonel and becoming a Donkey. Nothing more on him, but I get the sense that Red disliked Caesar even before the events in Dawn.**

 **So here's my theory: Red may have lost a family member to humans (either a parent, sibiling, other relative, love intrest or maybe a friend) and wanted revenge for that loss ever since and then Koba declares war on the humans and that instantly makes Red follow Koba and when Caesar kills Koba, that makes Red turn against Caesar (and it could also be that he secretly blamed Caesar for that loss-either because Caesar failed to save that person or that human wasn't killed/punished). You guys may see this theory play out in the story as we go.**

 **To be honest, I came up with the kitchen language idea while doing the dishes. XD I hope you guys understood the dialogue between Will and Tanoddah (it was so awkward to write up!) if not, I can write up a basic guide for what means what. ;)**

 **I guess Preacher is kinda like a spy now too...Though all he does is listen and think. XD**

 **And Carlos is having troubles...Any ideas who Magdelene is? X3**

 **Meanwhile, Pope and Dot get in trouble...and there's Skullfaces in the city...Sending you creepy Halloweenish vibes here!**

 **And yes, Aaron is another bully!...Annnnddd** **Cliffhanger time! XD It looks like our favorite guys are in a bit of mystery here! XD**

 **Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	19. Showing Weakness

**A's/N: Hey guys! Sorry for this very, very late update. I was actually sick a lot between January and April (I have no idea how that happened, I'm usually don't get sick like that!) and between that and my classes, I just didn't have much time to work on this story. DX**

 **Anyways, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

That did it, silence gave way to near panic. Koba and Dolly didn't kill anyone, but someone deliberately tried to make it look as if they had.

It wasn't just the fact that someone had framed one of their own for murder that horrified the group. It was that someone _within_ the city had done it...And this person could be lurking right in their united colony.

"How could this have happened?!" Malcolm suddenly blurted out over the shocked hoots and growls. "I mean-! How could someone sneak body parts into the infirmary without anyone noticing?!"

"I-!...I guess we need more people on guard-?" Kemp suggested.

"The guards we already have out _should_ have prevented this!" Dreyfus barked at the younger man.

Kemp put his hands up defensively. "Hay, at least the guy didn't kill them!"

 _But he could have._ Thought Caesar with a shiver. If the framer had wanted to kill Koba or Dolly, or even Carlos, he could have done it.

It felt like the bonobos had dodged a bullet.

Caesar wasn't the only one to make this connection, as the other apes kept glancing at the bonobo twins who were also looking at each other with fearful looks of their own. Only now realizing how much danger they had been in.

"Human work." The familiar phrase didn't come from Koba, but Rocket instead.

"Oh sure!" Aaron suddenly snapped at the balding chimp. "Blame it on the humans! Everything is always our fault with you animals!" That earned him a loud growl from Rocket, and many more from the other apes.

"Why would an ape do this, Aaron?!" Ellie backfired, turning at the man. Her pale face now reddened with anger.

"Why would an ape try to kill another ape?" Aaron actually glared at Caesar and Koba when he asked this, as if he believed they knew the answer.

Caesar glared right back, though his scowling face didn't fully display how angry he actually was. Koba's gums pulled themselves back, revealing his teeth.

Tori hesitantly placed her hand on his shoulder, which seemed to keep him from making any move towards the angry human...Though she doubted it would last for long.

Wordlessly, Stone, Luca and Rocket formed a wall between Aaron and Caesar, Blue Eyes, Maurice, the still unconscious Pope and Carlos, and the bonobo twins in case he were to attack them. Making themselves as tall as possible to intimidate him.

"Aaron!" It was Dreyfus that cut in this time. He knew where this was going and honestly wanted it to stop before it went any further. "It doesn't matter if this was done by a human or an ape! If this was a set up, then we could be in serious trouble here!"

Trouble was an understatement. Who ever did this had to have known the impact it would have on the team...And the fact that they chose Koba and Dolly to frame...Could that mean that the person knew of Koba's past attempts at murder and starting war?...

Dreyfus said they could be in _trouble_...But what he should have said, was they could be in _danger_...Serious _danger_.

Unbeknownst to the others, Blue Eyes had inched his way closer to Pope. Watching the unconscious chimp as his blood-covered chest rose and fell with every breath.

Pope hated humans. He was feared by many in the Ape Army for his ruthless training tactics and he certainly wasn't afraid to spill blood if need be. But the young prince had never seen the fishnet scarred chimp randomly go running around with a weapon and come back unconscious and with blood all over him. He wasn't _that_ reckless.

 _Why would he be unconscious at all?_ Blue Eyes wondered. Pope was, like the others said, one of the strongest apes in the colony. He could have easily overpowered his attacker without much effort at all.

Something caught his eye, interrupting his train of thought. Carefully, he moved Pope's head so that the back of it faced him. Right on the back of Pope's head was a badly bruising bump.

 _That explains why he's unconscious._ Thought Blue Eyes. _But why would he...?_

That was when he remembered that female chimpanzee. The one with silvery eyes. What was her name again?!-Dawn?-No, wait!...Dot? Yes, that was it!

"Where Dot?" Blue Eyes didn't mean to ask the question out loud but the more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became. "Why she not with him?"

There was a brief silence, probably from momentary confusion. Dot had avoided nearly all the apes except for Pope and she wouldn't even look at the humans, so no one knew her as well as the fishnet scarred ape did. But they all knew that wherever Pope was, Dot was likely to be with him.

"Maybe _she's_ the one he killed." Aaron's voice minus well be ice water from how cold it was.

Malcolm, his patience lost on him, turned his head at Aaron. "For crying out loud, Aaron, will you shut up already?!" Surprising everyone, even making the apes jump.

Caesar thought he heard Ellie gasp Malcolm's name but he was too shocked to react. In the short time he'd known Malcolm, he had never seen him actually yell or get really that mad at anyone before. Not even at Dreyfus.

"Ever since you walked through that door, you've been nothing but an obnoxious, condescending A-hole to everyone! Unless you're going to be helpful, shut the hell up and get out!" Malcolm could actually feel a headache forming at his temples from how mad he was. He stared Aaron down, daring him to push him further.

Aaron, wide-eyed by Malcolm's outburst, pressed his lips together tightly and glared right back at him. Not another word spoken between the two.

"...Ok..." Dreyfus spoke up, awkwardly breaking the tension. "How about this, uhh…Aaron can take me and Tori, Rocket and Luca to where he found Pope and we tell the patrol to look for Dot." He hoped Malcolm and Caesar understood what he was thinking. Dreyfus knew the younger man was just angry and scared, but Aaron had proven himself to be too disruptive and nasty to be of any real help. All he seemed to do was insult the apes and make them mad.

It was best to just separate Aaron from the group for now.

Malcolm, now calming down, glanced at Caesar who nodded his head in agreement. "Alright." He answered in a sigh as his gaze fell on the still unconscious Pope and then on Koba and Dolly.

 _What if Pope was framed too?_ He wondered. _If it happened to Koba and Dolly, who's to say it didn't happen to Pope?_ Out loud, he added: "We should keep an eye on Koba, Pope and Dolly for now. Just to be safe."

On a better day Koba would have resented the idea of needing 'babysitting', but he didn't have the energy or the heart to argue.

Besides, even if he didn't like needing protection, he knew whoever framed him and his sister was likely still around...Making it not safe for them to be alone.

Tori sighed, unsure if she was unhappy about leaving Koba or at being in the same group as Aaron. Still, she knew there was no getting out of it. She gave Koba's hand a soft squeeze before signing: _"I'll be back."_

Koba acknowledged her signs with a nod. Oddly feeling sad at her leaving him.

Ellie, who had held Malcolm's arm in an attempt to keep him from charging at Aaron, let her hands drop to her sides as she let go of him. _Alrighty._ She thought. _Dreyfus takes Aaron away and maybe he and Tori, Rocket and Luca can make sense of this._ Glancing at the others, she could see Blue Eyes, resuming his staring at Pope, Koba staring at the floor, Dolly occasionally glancing at Carlos and Maurice and Stone looking standing with the two bonobos.

They all looked worried. Worried for their friends, and their safety.

 _Today's not a good day._ Everything that happened today listed themselves in her mind: Koba and Dolly were framed for murder, Carlos was drugged and was delirious, Pope was attacked and, possibly, framed himself, Dot was missing…

She and Malcolm and the others brought the ape colony to the city under the belief that it was safer than the forest, where the amount of hiding places needed for another ambush or kidnaping would be unlimited. But now, it felt like not even the city was safe.

Were they ever really safe?

Her eyes wandered until they fell on Koba. She didn't mean to stare, but she found herself unable to take her gaze off of his scars…Scars that only hinted of the pain he had to endure in laboratories.

 _If any good thing can come from all of this._ She told herself, suddenly remembering the talk she had with Mike the previous day and her meeting with Ralph earlier. _It's that we have a chance to help Koba._

She sighed. It wasn't perfect, but she supposed now was about as good as any for Koba to see Ralph.

"Malcolm." She whispered, getting her husband's attention. "Mike found a psychiatrist for Koba."

"Ok, good." Malcolm whispered back, glad for the change of subject…Despite it not being any better than the other. "When can he see him?"

As Rocket, Luca, and Tori followed Dreyfus and Aaron to leave with them and the others stayed behind, Caesar swallowed to close his throat, feeling like something may spill out of it. Caesar had never been one to quite before, not even when playing a game with Will or Charles, but right now he…He felt like he wanted to.

Outwardly, Caesar tried to look and act as normal as possible without giving any hint of what he felt, knowing full-well the impact it would have on his apes. But inwardly, he felt like he was being suffocated.

Being leader was never easy. Caesar remembered the earlier days of freedom being hard on him and all the apes, and all the apes they lost due to hunger, cold, sickness and to wolves or bears. He remembered the humans who hunted them, and how they tried to kill them all in that firestorm. Even when the Ape Village was just starting to be built, it wasn't easy.

 _Nothing_ about being leader and king was easy.

But what helped was knowing that the forest, the place the apes chose to live, was safe and trusting in it's tree's and bushes that no harm would come to him or to his apes. That, and knowing who and where the enemy was and how to protect each other from it.

That knowledge gave him and the apes the power to survive…Something to guide them when danger came…Knowledge is Power…

But Caesar doesn't have that now…No one does…

They didn't know the enemy…Not knowing that meant not knowing how to protect. And this enemy lurked somewhere in the city, so they couldn't trust the ghostly buildings like they could with trees.

Hiding.

Just like the soldiers were that night…The night he and the others were kidnapped. He and Ash, Dolly, and Pope were back, but Winter, Lake, Red, Andy and Lucky were still trapped in that base.

The ambush, the kidnapping…The soldiers were hiding in the trees all-around the village…The very trees Caesar and the apes entrusted their lives to.

It all felt like a failure…He failed to protect, not just himself, but the other apes and his colony from these humans…And he's still failing them by not saving the others and not being able to protect the colony from whoever is hiding in the city…

Caesar suddenly became aware of whispering somewhere. He would have ignored it, but he heard one word:

"Koba."

That made him listen. What of Koba? He realized he recognized the voice was Ellie's.

"Now? Are you sure?" Whispered Malcolm, surprised.

Ellie sighed. "I know it's sudden but I don't see a better time to do it." Oh how Ellie wished there were a better day to have Koba see the shrink. Something like this needs to be done with care and can't be rushed. But at the same time she felt like the longer Koba didn't see Ralph, the worse his problems could become.

Malcolm quickly side-glanced the others. It looked like no one noticed that they were whispering to each other, let alone hearing them.

"Ok, ok. But does anyone else know about the blackout?" He asked, turning back to her.

"Koba may have told his father and sister. I don't know about the others."

Much of the conversation was muffled so Caesar didn't hear most of it. He did understand though that it was about Koba, which made him suspicious. _What did he do now?_

Just as his suspicions could slowly grow to anger, he overheard two more words. The first being 'blackout'. The second was 'psychiatrist'.

Caesar froze, not sure if he heard it right.

… _Koba…Blackout…Psychiatrist…_

Those two words. Caesar knew what they meant, Will taught them to him once. The more he thought about it, the more he didn't like the picture they painted. _Koba had a blackout…And now he needs a psychiatrist…_

Worry sunk it's way into him. _Why did Koba have a blackout?_ Caesar hadn't noticed anything wrong and Koba never hinted otherwise…But, come to think of it, he and the bonobo hadn't really…talked in a while…Not since…

 _Koba weak!_ The voice… _His_ voice…Shouted in his mind. _Koba is nothing! Has nothing! Means nothing!_

 _Did…Did_ I _say those things?_

 _Koba coward! Koba thinks only for Koba!_

Caesar shut his eyes. He pressed his hands to his ears in hopes of blocking the voice but to no avail. The voice that was his but also wasn't his kept going.

 _Koba belong in cage!_

 _What…?_ Koba. That was Koba that time.

 _Never…Should have…Freed you…_

Caesar's eyes snapped open. The last five words the voice said lingering for a moment as he came to the crushing realization.

 _Was that…What I said to him?…Koba…Tried to kill himself because of-?!_

"Caesar?"

Caesar jumped and glanced around. Only to find the remaining group looking at him.

"Caesar?" The voice repeated, only slightly louder this time. Caesar turned his head, startled to find Malcolm looking at him. Did he catch him overhearing his and Ellie's conversation about Koba?

"Are you ok?" The human asked in concern.

Caesar stared at him for a second before glancing at the others. His gaze met Koba's, who looked at him with the same confused and concern expression as the others.

 _Koba..._

He couldn't take it, he had to get out of here!

Without saying a word or looking back, Caesar bolted. Running out of the room on all fours.

"Caesar!" Malcolm called after him. He was tempted to go after him but hesitated.

"That was weird." Said Kemp, raising an eyebrow. "What was that about?" Asked Foster, who was now looking at Malcolm.

Malcolm shook his head, his concern growing. "I don't know." Was all he could say.

"I follow." Blue Eyes volunteered, running after his father before anyone could stop him.

Ellie stared after Caesar, watching as his form quickly disappeared. As strong as the Ape King was, even he wasn't immune to stress...Or to breaking...With all that's happened to him, Ellie was surprised he went this far without showing it.

He must have been holding it in...Hiding his trauma from everyone...But now, it looked like Caesar finally broke...

 _Today really has been a bad day for everyone_.

* * *

Cornelia caught herself staring at the children again. It distracted her from whatever her task was, but it was hard not to watch the large mix of human children and ape children. Some interacted with each other, others kept to themselves. The ones who had come from the base were the ones that stayed closest to the walls, hiding behind blankets or keeping their backs to the others.

The ones that did interact however, kept catching Cornelia's eyes. They weren't fighting, or hurting each other. They just stared at each other and playfully mimicked each other's movements.

The little human child called Harper was among them. She was reaching her hand out and petting a young chimp's head as if he were a puppy. The young ape only returned the same touch, petting her golden hair.

Neither of them, nor the other interacting children, feared each other. If anything, it looked more like they were curious why one had fur and the other didn't.

 _Funny._ Thought Cornelia with a smile. _Children get along with each other better than we adults do._

Her gaze eventually found Hopely, who was sleeping in the-what the humans called-crib a couple of feet away from her. His little hands balled up into tiny fists as he slept.

Hopely, the child who wasn't entirely an ape but wasn't exactly human either.

Cornelia stared at him. Despite being used to him now, she found herself still bewildered over his existence.

Humans hurt or hated apes, and apes feared them. None of the apes in their colony had ever heard of the two species co-existing peacefully until now. But actually marrying each other and having children together?…If that idea was brought up before Malcolm and the other humans came along, it would have been seen as preposterous and would have enraged most of the apes. Particularly, the ones who came from labs or spent a lifetime in cages.

If the apes would not have liked it, one could imagine how the humans would have reacted-especially the ones who equally feared and resented the apes.

But even then, even with humans and apes both hating and objecting the idea of marriage and children between their species, it could have stayed just an idea. A stupid, war-provoking idea that could fall from memory with time.

They can't have that.

No…That's not why she was so confused about Hopely's existence…

 _How did they-?_

A sudden crash made the Ape Queen gasp. She heard a couple humans shouting somewhere down the hall outside the nursery area. Next thing she knew, a blur of dark fur ran on all fours past the window.

Wait a minute…Caesar?

Yes! It was Caesar!

Without thinking, Cornelia ran to the door and opened it. Letting it slam behind her as she went after her husband. "Caesar!"

He didn't hear her. Between his heart pounding in his ears and his panic clouding his mind, Caesar didn't realize Cornelia was chasing him and yelling his name until he made a sharp turn to enter the next hallway and he spotted her from the corner of his eye, causing him to nearly crash into the wall instead.

Huffing to catch their breath, the two chimps stared at each other with wide eyes.

Caesar felt as if his whole body vibrated with every beat his heart made. The panic slowly leaving him as he looked at Cornelia...At his wife...

The longer he looked at her, the harder it became to hold it back...The brewing storm that was his emotions.

Her concern grew as she stared at him, every muscle in her face arching in reflection of the feeling. "Caesar?"

Caesar didn't answer her at first. A tear took the opportunity to escape from one of his eyes in his silence, prompting the Ape King to turn away from his wife. Only to feel her hand on his cheek, forcing him to return his gaze to her.

Cornelia's concern only grew seeing her husband shed tears. _"What's wrong?"_ She signed with her free hand.

The dam broke. Caesar could no longer hold back the tears. He felt as if he was being smothered by the sob building in his throat. "...It's...hard, Cornelia..." He whispered in an equally shaky voice. "...I know...I have to be strong...But it's so hard."

His vision became blurred by his tears, but he could feel her wrap her arms around him and hug him. A feeling that Caesar desperately needed and welcomed gratefully.

Cornelia knew her husband wasn't always as strong as others thought he was. To his credit, Caesar was good at showing strength. At staring in the face of danger or any threat with no hesitance and being the one who others looked to for strength.

He was the strength of the colony.

But even the strongest apes need someone to catch them when they fall and hold them as they cry.

Meanwhile, Blue Eyes had finally caught up to them. He froze when he saw his parents hugging each other...Was his father crying?!

...That...That never happens...!

He made a move to approach them, but stopped himself. To say his mother knew his father better than anyone was an understatement. Whatever flaws, cracks or secrets the Ape King had in his stoic armor was common knowledge to his mother, like all mates do.

She really was the only one who his father could turn to and know that she wouldn't think less of him for showing weakness. She wouldn't even call it that...She'd just be his strength.

Making up his mind, Blue Eyes quietly turned around and went back the way he came. Deciding it was best to let his mother help his father.

But even as he left, Blue Eyes still felt worried.

* * *

Dot's heart pounded so hard, she could hear it in her ears. The adrenaline that kept her running had died out, leaving her breathless and her body aching from the exertion.

She had taken shelter under a bush. Listening intently for any sign of danger. So far, the only sounds she heard was the occasional crow cawing and lizards scurrying for cover in the grass. Each sound intensified to the point of making her ears ache.

The dreadful feeling of waiting for something to jump out at her lingering…When suddenly, a figure walked passed her line of vision and she shrieked, moving to get out of the bush and away from whatever it was.

"Hey, wait!" Called a human's voice. She didn't dare look back. If anything, the voice made her run faster.

In her haste to escape, she banged into another figure. She jolted her head up, expecting a smiling skull to glare down at her but, to her surprise, found an ape's face instead.

"Dot?" The male chimpanzee asked. _"I'm Grey, we were looking for you."_

Grey? Dot then noticed Bon, one of Pope's friends, further away. So that's how he knows her name.

Slowly, her heartbeat calmed down and she began to breathe normally again. Dot hesitantly took Grey's hand as he helped her up. "P-Pope." She sputtered.

 _"_ _At infirmary."_ Grey signed in response. _"He's hurt but he's alive."_

It took Dot a moment to register Grey's signs. Grey himself didn't know if she understood him until she seemed to relax.

 _"_ _Take me to him."_ She finally signed.

Grey nodded and started to lead her back to the city. As they began to leave, Grey caught sight of Bon glaring at him. Even without words, he knew exactly what the other ape was thinking. He could feel them through Bon's almost smirking gaze.

 _I told you it wasn't safe here._

* * *

The room was small, but not terribly. Despite the building it belonged to being effected by the outbreak, almost everything from it's light painted walls, to it's blue and grey couch were untouched. All the other laboratory rooms Koba had ever been in had white walls, tiled floors and weird lighting, but not this one.

No, this wasn't a lab room…This was something else. A homey, cozy something else.

It's comforting environment did nothing to quell his growing anxiety. The room wasn't a lab, but it was about as big as those pain living rooms were…And he was alone with this human, were more going to come in? What if they held him down and do some kind of experiment on him?

"Koba?" Asked the man, prompting Koba to reluctantly look at him.

The human was named Ralph. He was the psychiatrist that agreed to see him. He was a short man, a little on the heavy side, and had grayish brown hair that matched his light mustache. He was older, but not exactly as old as Dreyfus.

As hesitant as Koba was, he couldn't picture this human having anything to do with Gen-Sys or any other lab. Even his clothes weren't lab-related, which Koba used as more proof for himself that he wasn't in a lab nor was Ralph any threat to him.

 _"_ _You look tense, are you nervous?"_ Signing. Ralph also signed.

If Ellie thought that signing wold make him more comfortable then…Well, she got that part right. Ralph didn't have a bad voice, but it was easier to sign than to speak. Besides, it reminded him of Mary and Amol…And of Tori.

Koba wasn't just nervous, he felt like he was waiting for an attack. He wasn't even comfortable enough to sit on the couch, opting to stand in front of the bookcase next to it while Ralph sat in the chair across from the larger furniture.

Still feeling uneasy, Koba focused on signing. _"Humans hurt me in labs…Always assume the worst of them."_

 _"_ _That must make it hard for you to trust them."_ Ralph replied back, giving no hint of judgment or resentment. Koba could not tell for sure if Ralph took offense to his words, but he gave no indication.

 _"_ _It does."_ He answered honestly. He felt it even now.

He was willing to talk to Ralph, but that didn't mean he _trusted_ him.

 _"_ _What about apes-or your ape friends?"_ Asked Ralph. _"You trust them, right?"_

Koba didn't know how to answer that at first. He almost didn't want to. Yes, he trusted the apes. He trusted them with both his, and his sister's, lives and he had never once felt unsafe around any of them...But trust could only go so far...They...Couldn't know what it's like...They'd never understand...

 _"_ _Don't talk about past...To anyone."_ He finally signed, feeling more alone than ever before.

Ralph seemed to sense it. _"Why?"_

Weird. Koba had never felt such a weird mixture of anxiety and resentment-not directed at Ralph, but at the question itself. He didn't want to have to answer it...Or maybe he just didn't want to admit to himself that he felt this way.

Reluctantly, he signed. _"...I don't want to show weakness..."_

That puzzled Ralph. He studied the scarred bonobo for a minute, trying to figure out what that meant. _"You mean...Cry?"_

No, not just cry. Scream, shake, throw things, rip things apart, throw his arms down at the ground, want vengeance, runaway, be away from everyone, hide in a hole and die… _That_ was what he meant…But Koba could only answer with a nod as that was too much to express.

Thankfully, the human gave him time to calm down. Time he desperately needed to keep his eyes from getting wet and to swallow the scream in his throat.

Ralph smiled reassuringly, though his eyes appeared sympathetic. _"It's ok to cry. I know this is hard for you."_

Koba took in a shaky breath, before letting it out in a low sigh. _"Let's just keep going."_ He signed.

 _"_ _Alrighty…Have you ever talked to anyone about what happened to you?"_

Koba only shook his head. There was Tori but, aside from her, no one knew.

 _"_ _What about your sister?"_

Great. Koba didn't want to talk about Dolly right now. He didn't want to think about how worried she must be. She was waiting outside with Ellie and Malcolm, having agreed to come with them when Maurice volunteered to watch Carlos while they were gone. _"We don't like talking about it…Too many bad memories."_

Ralph nodded. _"I see, and…You don't talk to anyone about your past?"_

 _"_ _No."_

 _"_ _Because you don't want to show weakness."_

 _"_ _Yes."_

Ralph went silent for a bit again, thinking. _"Ok…What do you think would happen if you showed weakness?"_ He asked, trying to understand.

Now this was something that Koba had thought he'd never tell. Not even Dolly knew this. It had to be his closest guarded secret, never uttered or acknowledged even to himself as if just saying it would release it from it's cage. _"…Was weak…In labs…In cages…If I show it, humans will…See it as a chance to hurt me again…And apes…Apes will abandon me. Reject me. Leave me to die…"_

That confused Ralph just as much as it concerned him. _"Where did that come from? Did someone tell you that was going to happen?"_

Koba sighed again. _"No…I just think that will happen."_

 _"_ _Why?"_

 _"…_ _I don't know…"_

Ralph wrote something down in his notebook, the sound reminding Koba of all the humans in the labs writing results in their own notes. When he was done, he resumed signing. _"Ok, so it sounds like you have an issue with trusting other people-considering your past, I'm not surprised. When a person is abused for a number of years, it could lead to an inability to trust in others. However, I think that's only half of the problem."_

As Ralph signed, he kept his gaze on Koba. Making sure he was listening. _"It seems to me you've kept your emotions bottled up. I understand why you did, but it's preventing you from grieving and that leads to you being unable to find closure."_

Grief? What was there to grieve for? His mother died years ago and whatever ape Koba could have been, or had been when he was younger, was long dead.

When Koba didn't say anything, Ralph signed. _"Was your first victim one of your abusers?"_ He asked.

He was talking about Jacobs, he probably learned about him from Ellie or something. _"Yes."_

 _"_ _And when you killed him, did you feel like you got justice for what he did to you?"_

Honestly, Koba felt more than just justice from killing Jacobs…And he felt it again when he killed Terry, McVeigh and Carver. _"I guess so."_

" _What about the others that hurt you?"_

With a sign, Koba reluctantly answered. _"Tommy killed himself…Roger left after he killed mother…Don't know what happened to the others."_

 _"_ _So they were never punished for abusing you?"_

 _"…_ _No…"_

 _"_ _Do you think that may be why you wanted vengeance?"_

 _Humans put Koba in cages. Cut me. Torture me. My body wasn't mine._ Koba didn't dare sign those words. Just thinking them threatened to make him snap. _They must pay._ Swallowing, he instead answered with: _"Maybe."_

 _"_ _And when Caesar refused to fight the humans, was that why you wanted to kill him?"_

"Don't. Bring. Caesar. Into this." Koba growled. It took every fiber of his being to not raise his voice any higher than that.

Ralph raised his eyebrows in alarm, having not expected the scarred bonobo to actually speak.

Koba breathed slowly to calm the feeling in his chest. It wasn't really anger, but…He just couldn't… _"I don't want to talk about that."_ He signed half-heartedly.

Ralph nodded. That was his fault, he overstepped his boundaries and he mentally scolded himself for that. Koba was in a very delicate situation here, and if Ralph wanted to help him, he had to earn his trust. _"Ok. We don't have to talk about that."_

He gave Koba time to relax before continuing. After a couple of moments, he slowly reached into a box that sat next to his chair.

Koba realized there was something in the box and tensed up. Whatever he expected Ralph to be hiding inside was anything other than what he actually pulled out. A book, with something attached to it.

 _"_ _I want you to try something for a while."_ Ralph signed as he placed the book down on the floor and pushed it across the carpet towards him.

Surprised, Koba picked it up and flipped through the blank pages. He realized the book was similar to the one Alex had and the thing attached to it was actually a small box of color pencils. Confused, he looked back at Ralph.

 _"_ _Whenever you're having a bad day, I want you to draw it out and then we'll talk about those drawings in our sessions."_ Ralph explained.

Draw? Koba…Hadn't drawn anything for years.

 _"_ _Sometimes it's easier to draw what you're feeling than to put it into words."_ Ralph quickly added. _"Most of your drawings are going to be emotion-based but, for your first drawing, I want you to make a list of all the people who you know care about you-"_

 _"_ _What do they have to do with this?!"_ Koba wasn't sure why he suddenly felt so defensive, but just the mention of the others made him feel insecure.

Ralph chose his words carefully before signing. _"You just told me you think humans would hurt you again and the apes would abandon you if you showed weakness to them."_ Ralph hated using that phrase. Being vulnerable wasn't weakness, but he needed to Koba to understand and he didn't know any other way to word it. _"The whole point of the drawing is to let you know that there are people you can turn to and none of them, human or ape, would do any of the things you're afraid they'll do."_

Afraid. Koba wasn't expecting that. Part of him wanted to argue and say that nothing scared him…But deep down inside, he _was_ afraid. Afraid of so many things. His gaze found the book Ralph gave him. How can he possibly it _all_ out?

For that brief moment, Ralph saw that fear. While he knew Koba tried to kill Caesar and start a war with the humans, he didn't believe that was all there was of the scarred bonobo…Maybe somewhere in him, part of that frightened and abused ape that Koba used to be was still there.

"Koba." He spoke to get him to look at him again. _"Nothing we talk about will ever leave this room."_ He wanted to be very clear on that. _"I want you to know that when we're here, you can talk about anything and I'll listen. Do you understand?"_

Koba stared at him, unsure if really believed him or not. The very thought of a human promising him this kind of haven threatened to bring him to tears. "You…Won't tell anyone?" He asked, not bothering to sign the question.

Ralph took that as a sign he understood. "Not without your permission." He promised.

* * *

Just after Blue Eyes told the others where his father was, they heard the door open and shut. Grey and Bon appeared, with them was Dot-who spotted Pope and immediately bolted to his side. Hissing at Foster, Kemp and the remaining apes and just barely showing her teeth at them in a near-threatening manner.

Maurice, Blue Eyes, and Stone understood and kept their distance and, though they were startled by the behavior, Kemp and Foster quickly got the hint to leave her be.

"Where was she?" Asked Kemp, looking at Bon and Grey.

"Hiding in bushes." It was Grey that answered. "She not tell why."

"She not hurt." Added Bon.

Foster stared at Dot a little longer before saying anything. "There's something wrong here." He turned to the others. "I know she doesn't trust humans, but I've never seen her do that before."

Maurice, who was sitting at Carlos's bedside, didn't join the conversation. He just couldn't take his eyes off of Dot…So afraid…Threatened…She's protecting Pope…From them? Does she think they're the danger, or…Or is it Kemp and Foster and the other humans? His eyes wandered to Pope, still unconscious and oblivious to what was happening around him. Dot isn't hurt, but Pope is?

Without saying anything, the orangutan slowly inched his way towards the female chimpanzee.

Blue Eyes noticed too late. "Maurice-!" He gasped. What is he doing?!

Dot stiffened when she realized Maurice was approaching her. Her mouth twitched as her lips pulled back to reveal her teeth more, though she was hesitant to fully show them. Despite him being larger than her, she didn't exactly feel threatened by him. His movements were slow, non-confrontational, and his green eyes were gentle. Soft, like clouds.

He now stood at arms length from her, giving her space but close enough to talk to her. _"I'm Maurice, a friend."_

Friend?

 _"_ _You're afraid."_ Maurice acknowledged. _"Of us?"_ He asked, motioning to himself and to the others.

Dot's mouth closed a little more, which Maurice took as a hint that she understood what he was doing. _"Not you."_ She pointed at Foster and Kemp. _"Humans."_

Maurice narrowed his eyes. Did she meant other humans? Or just those two? He nodded at Pope. _"Humans hurt Pope?"_ He asked.

 _"_ _SkullFaces."_

Her sudden signs confused Maurice. She used the sign for 'skull' and then the sign for 'face' and combined them to make the sign. _"SkullFaces?"_ He repeated.

 _"_ _They had skulls for faces."_ Dot described with shaking hands. _"They take me. Pope found us. He told me to run. Don't know what happened after that."_

Meanwhile, Stone and Blue Eyes had been translating what they were saying to Kemp and Foster while Bon and Grey watched intently. "What's a SkullsFace?" Asked Kemp, visibly as confused by the word as the apes were at the sign.

"Humans…Skull…" Foster thought out loud, trying to figure it out before a thought came to him. "Sounds like they were wearing masks."

"Mask?" Asked Stone. "Like ape midwives?"

"I guess so, only these guys must have had their entire faces covered." Replied Foster.

Kemp frowned at the ground. "So they kidnap Dot, but they frame Pope?"

A sudden thought struck Blue Eyes. "She was bait." He started signing and speaking at the same time as if he couldn't figure out which one worked better. "They use her. Lure Pope." It was the very tactic that he and his father and the Ape Army used for hunting. Only, they used it with the intent to kill their prey…These 'SkullFaces' didn't do that…Why?

Catching on to what the young prince was saying, Stone added. "Frame Pope. For killing Dot-or, frame Dot. For killing Pope."

"Holy shit, that's nuts!" Breathed Kemp.

Glancing at Dot and Maurice one more time, Foster thought about something. "You know, guys, if these SkullFaces were trying to frame Pope or Dot, what if they were the same people who framed Koba and Dolly?"

Blue Eyes didn't like the sound of that at all.

Grey and Bon glanced at each other in mute shock. Neither of them had been told much detail of what had happened earlier, but now they were beginning to recognize the severity of the situation. It was more than just _drama_ , there a potential threat in the city. These 'SkullFaces' or masked humans could be anywhere and they were framing apes for murder.

Blue Eyes suddenly looked at them. "Bon, Grey, search where you find Dot. Maybe something there." He signed and spoke at the same time, still too overwhelmed to figure out which one to use.

"Where. Caesar?" Grey asked, just noticing at that moment that the Ape King wasn't there.

"Taking break." Blue Eyes replied without thinking. "Now go."

Grey turned and left but Bon lingered a moment longer, giving Blue Eyes a weird look which he barely noticed.

"You know…" Kemp started. "It's great Dot and Pope are fine, but where in world did that blood come from?"

Before anyone could answer, a moan interrupted them. Blue Eyes, Stone, Kemp and Foster looked at Maurice and Dot who were now looking at Pope. Was he waking up?!

 _Pope's Dream/Flashback_

 _The cage is empty, except for Pope who hides in the corner. The only companion he has is the dark form, which was usually behind him. He'd move his arms, and the figure would do the same. He'd roll over and the figure copies him. It gets boring after awhile and, no matter what he does, he could never touch the figure. But it's all he has._

 _The only visitors he gets are the humans who'd come and take him away to hurt him. Sometimes, they put him to sleep. But other times, they'd keep him awake. They'd cut him open and then put him back together again. Leaving new, fresh wounds on his little body._

 _"_ _This is the ape you'll be working with."_

 _Today started with footsteps waking him up. Footsteps usually meant the humans were coming for him. They stopped right at his cage but didn't open it. They just talked to each other and kept glancing his way._

 _This only made him shrink closer to the wall until his back was touching the hard surface._

 _"_ _Pope?" The second man, the one Pope never seen before, asked. "He's only two years old."_

 _"_ _I realize your work normally requires infants, but he's the youngest ape available as of right now." The other man, an older human who was usually around when the humans hurt him, replied._

 _The new human was silent for a moment before nodding. "Ok…He'll do."_

 _They opened the cage and brought the moving one closer. Pope reluctantly dragged himself into it. He learned the hard way once that resisting resulted in pain. As they closed the door behind him and began moving the cage, he wonders where they'd hurt him this time...And how bad pain will be._

 _But they don't take him to the hurting room. They bring him to a door with a glass square on it. They then opened both the door and the cage, allowing Pope to see the room._

 _Unlike his cage, the room had things inside. Something hanging from the ceiling, a round object in the corner, and a couple of other weird-looking things that Pope never seen before. The strange, unfamiliar room scared him and he shrunk back into the moving cage. The man strikes him with the lightning stick, causing him to scream and run into the room to get away from him._

 _"_ _Hay!" The new human gasped. "Careful! He's only a baby!"_

 _The other man made a funny noise at him. "You're too soft, just focus on your work." With that, he left._

 _The second human made a windy sound and walked into the room, closing the door behind him as he did._

 _Pope whimpered, scared of what the human will do to him._

 _The man walked over to him and sat down some feet away from him. "Hi Pope." Immediately, Pope was drawn to his hands. "I'm Amol, I'm going to teach you Sign Language. Does that sound fun?"_

 _He moved his hands as he spoke. Each movement was graceful, deliberate. Like there was meaning to them._

 _Pope stared at them, his fear melting into curiosity._

 _The man-Amol-noticed. "Do you like it when I sign?" He asked._

 _Pope glanced at his face, then back at his hands._

 _"_ _I'm a human." Amol's hands indicated to himself before towards Pope. "You're a chimpanzee."_

 _Slowly, he moved closer. Pope payed less attention to Amol's voice and more to his moving hands. No other human did this before. Once he was close enough, Pope hesitantly reached his hand out, took Amol's hand mid-movement and stared at it. Pushing on each finger with his own to make them move._

 _Amol made a funny sound that startled Pope. "You're a funny little guy, are you?" He asked as he placed his free hand on the young ape's head._

 _Pope shrunk away from the touch, but stopped when he felt Amol's palm on his head. Skin. Human skin. Not fake touch from gloved hands, but_ real _touch...It had to be the first time anyone had ever touched him like that._

 _He liked it...And he wanted it to last._

 _Pope reached up to the hand on his head and held it there. Savoring the new feeling._

 _Comfort._

 _End of Dream/Flashback_

Ironically, Pope woke up with a splitting headache. As if the memory itself caused him physical pain from dreaming it.

The second the scared chimpanzee started to sit up, he felt himself get pulled into an almost too tight embrace. Prompting his eyes open and finding Dot practically squeezing him. As relieved as he was to see that she was safe, Pope wondered how she could be strong enough to hug him this tightly.

"Pope."

Pope looked up and realized Maurice was standing there. Hearing his name made his head hurt.

 _"_ _Are you ok?"_ He read the orangutan's signs, but Pope heard that phrase again.

 _Hello again, Pope._ That voice, why was it so familiar?

"…My name." Pope mumbled, completely ignoring Maurice's question.

"What?" Asked Maurice.

Pope looked at him, meeting his eyes. "He know…My name. The SkullFace. Knew. My name."

* * *

Red didn't know if he was still in that room where the pain was, or in a different one all together but he didn't care. He kept his eyes closed, not wanting to open them and be back in this nightmare. But then he suddenly felt a human hand touch the side of his head, where the raw branding was. His eyes snapped open as he recoiled from the touch.

The human jumped back himself, his own eyes widened at the sudden movement from the gorilla. "No, no-It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you." The room was dark, but light enough to see the human.

He wasn't the Colonel, Red realized and he didn't look like a soldier either. This man was older than McCullough, and his eyes were light brown, not hidden behind cruel sunglasses. His white hair was messy, and his clothes dirty with dried blood on the fabric. Like he had been in a fight or something.

Red's whole body hurt. Every muscle aching into painful knots, a headache pounding in the back of his skull, eyes burning every time he blinked, his ears ringing from his own screams and his throat scorched from using it for so long.

Even if this man was a threat, he was too weak to fight him.

The man stayed where he was, as he if he could sense that he had frightened him. "I promise I'm not going to hurt you." He repeated, signing and speaking the words at the same time, much to Red's surprise. "I just want to help you."

Red could only think of one time he ever knew a human who knew and spoke Sign Language. Back in the zoo, before all of this…Before the forest… Before Caesar freed them all. Back when his world was only sweet smells, toys and medicine.

They both froze when footsteps echoed outside. The man quickly glanced at the door, his body tensing up. Red would have followed his gaze if not for the fresh wounds on his neck. He could only wonder if the Colonel had soldiers outside that door. Listening.

The door never opened, and the footsteps disappeared. Whoever it was didn't even stop at the door. The man finally returned his gaze on Red.

 _"_ _I have questions for you."_ Signed the human, incase someone really was listening. _"You don't have to speak, just blink once for yes and twice for no. Ok?"_

 _Yes._ Red blinked, his eyes felt like the only part of his body that he could move without too much pain.

 _"_ _Are you from Caesar's colony?"_

Caesar? The human knew Caesar?! Red wondered if the human was one of the humans that first encountered the apes, but he would have remembered a human who spoke Sign Language. He blinked once.

The human looked at his fur, noticing the coloring. _"Is your name Red?"_

 _Yes!_ Red blinked and felt something hot burning them. His tears. He wasn't safe here, but he felt like he was found and that was the next best thing to being rescued.

 _"_ _Do you know where Winter, Lake, Andy and Lucky are?"_

 _Yes._ Red was sure he knew where the others were. Andy and Lucky had to be in that slave pen, still being tormented by the soldiers there, and Lake was now a servant to the Colonel. Red didn't know what that meant, but he hoped that she wasn't being given the same treatment as he was.

And Winter. The last time he saw the white furred gorilla, he was still guarding Rose's cell. Left alone in that hallway. What's become of him now?

 _"_ _Were they alive the last time you saw them?"_ The man must have figured out that it had been awhile since the last time Red had seen the others. _Yes._

The man nodded, now knowing all he needed to know. _"My name is Derek."_ He finger spelled his name. _"After you were all kidnapped, Malcolm and the others took the Ape Colony back to the city and then them and the Ape Council, and Dreyfus-the leader of the humans, and I teamed up to find all of you."_

Red's heart skipped a beat when he heard that. The remaining apes had been searching for them? And they teamed up with the city humans too?! This whole time he and the others had been imprisoned here, they _all_ had been trying to find them?!...But Red's amazement and rush of hope suddenly faltered as he remembered what he and the others had been through since being kidnapped...Andy, Lucky and Lake being enslaved, Pinto almost getting killed, soldiers burning Winter, Lake getting whipped...What they did to Caesar...and what was happening to Red himself right now...

It all could have been prevented if they were rescued sooner...It wasn't a betrayal but it felt like, despite the 'Apes Together Strong' law, the colony had failed them...

Despite his arm muscles hurting and his hands shaking, Red forced them to sign one question: _"Why...you not...Come sooner?"_

 _Good question._ Thought Derek, feeling the anger and the disappointment in the gorilla's signs. He didn't need to know that between the time Malcolm brought the apes to the city and the moment the soldiers put Red in this room, things had happened to the kidnapped apes. Bad things. Things that will stay with them for the rest of their days.

Derek learned years ago that no criminal case is ever solved quickly. Some of the cases he worked on had taken months or years to solve. Only a few were ever solved within days, but not without a considerable amount of time between the crime happening and the perpetrator being arrested. Time that, in kidnapping cases, could result in trauma or death for the victim.

In Derek's experience, it was always best to never think about the 'What if we found them sooner' question in those scenarios but even if the question wasn't asked, the guilt of not saving a life when there was still a chance would never go away. It certainly never left him.

 _"_ _We didn't know where you were taken to."_ He finally answered Red. _"Or why these people took you...And sometimes, the Whys lead us to the Who which then leads us to the Where and then to you."_

Red, still angry, snorted at him. The human sounded like Maurice, all lecture-talk and nothing else. Though he supposed Derek was right as Red also didn't know where this base was located or, more importantly, how to get out.

That was when Red noticed Derek staring at his wounds. He was tempted to glare at him, but was surprised to see concern etched into the old human's face. It didn't stop Red from flinched when he saw the human make a move closer to him though.

Despite the darkened room, Derek could clearly see the fresh abrasions on the gorilla's skin. The marks weren't just rashes, they were first degree burns. So bad, they could be seen even under the dark fur and skin. The veins in his wrists and ankles were clearly visible because of them. Derek knew not to touch them, knowing the nerves there may have been damaged. Red's stomach and neck were worse, the burns there were nearly second degree with blisters already forming.

His eyes fell on the AO branding on the gorilla's head. Third degree, and this one will scar after it heals.

Derek fought tears as he stared at it. Hurt to see such cruelty was done to an innocent soul. He's seen all sorts of horrible things from his work and that was all just humans hurting other humans, but there was only one time that he ever saw unnecessary brutality towards an ape.

Only once.

 _"_ _Did the Colonel do this?"_ He asked as he met Red's gaze.

Now there was no denying the human's concern was real. Red blinked his eyes in reply. _Yes._

Derek tried to think back to when Caesar, Dolly and Ash were returned to the city but none of them had the kind of wounds that Red had. Come to think of it, the Colonel had soldiers torture and brainwash those apes. The Colonel himself didn't...And weren't Caesar, Dolly, Pope, and Ash in a half underground cell that was outside in the slave pen?

None of that applied to Red's current situation.

If the Colonel had the same plans with Red as he had with Caesar, Ash and Dolly, why would have him isolated in this room and personally do the torture and, possible brainwashing, himself?

 _What is he planning?_

Derek ripped a piece of his shirt off and dipped it into the small bowl of water that the soldiers from earlier had grudgingly given them. Glancing at Red, he signed: _"I'm just going to put water on your wounds. Ok?"_

Suspicion crossed Red's mind briefly. Why was this human so insistent on helping him? In fact, how did he know if Derek even came from the city at all? But despite that, he couldn't think of a good reason not to trust him. After all, Derek was trapped in here like he was and Red honestly couldn't, for the life of him, imagine the elderly human holding a gun or having any affiliation with the Colonel.

But something was amiss. Even if Derek and the others were trying to rescue him and Lake, Winter, Andy and Lucky, this looked far from any rescue attempt. Besides, what kind of rescue plan involves intentionally getting caught and ending up in this room?

If this wasn't a rescue, then that meant Derek must have been kidnapped by the AO soldiers. But why would they bring him here?... _Where_ did they keep the human prisoners anyway?

Reluctantly, Red blinked once for yes and let Derek come closer to him with the wet sleeve piece.

As Derek dabbed at the mark on Red's head with the wet cloth, his mind went back. Back to those hot days in March, the countless hours of mindlessly drawing in his notebooks and ignoring his teacher's ramblings. All the while, thinking only about where he'd go once his school finally freed him and how much fun he'd have.

Most importantly, he remembered the promise he made all those years ago. The driving force behind him becoming an FBI profiler. But even after all these years, he never forgotten the true spirit of that promise.

He never had to act on it before...Now he knew he had to.

* * *

Winter was getting agitated. Without Red around, he found he had to keep watch and stay awake without breaks. Even with Rose's reassurance that soldiers don't come down here that often, he was just too scared to stay awake.

The silence and the echo that came with every sound made Winter feel as if something could jump out at him. The dim lighting did nothing to help the dreadful feeling, other than make Winter crave for sunlight. To feel the heat and air of outside. In fact, he would have chosen any whether over this place.

 _No one has come here yet._ He reminded himself. _Not since…The Colonel._

Winter was especially paranoid because hours after Red was taken, the Colonel came with some soldiers and made him wait with them while he went inside Rose's room. Winter didn't ask what was happening, and he was too scared to. He did overhear the Colonel and Rose talking though. Once the dreadful humans had left, he asked Rose what if she was alright which she said she was.

Still, it scared him. Just the image of McCullough standing over the malnourished child made the white furred gorilla feel sick, knowing the human could easily hurt her with less that kick of his leg.

 _What do you think, Luca?_ He wondered. _If you were down here with a captive, possibly endangered, child, what would you do?_

 _She is an asset to my success._ That was the Colonel's words. What he meant by them was still unknown to Winter, but he knew someone had to protect Rose from him and his madness.

 _Protect. That's what Luca would do._

 _...But that would mean facing the Colonel and the soldiers...Why can't I be like Luca?_

Winter turned around and hid his face in the wall, shaking with fear. Wishing someone could protect him...Wishing his father was here and wanting to go home.

 _Why are you such a coward?!_ He thought angrily. _You weakling! Red never cried when he had to protect you!_

That was true, Winter had never seen Red cry-in fact, Red never really protected anyone aside from himself before. He guessed Red just protected him so he'd have a trusted companion in this base, which Winter wouldn't blame him for. He doubted the rusted furred gorilla really cared about him though.

But then, why would Red protect Pinto?

 _The gorilla guard is the walls of the colony._ That was what his father told him once. _Red was your walls, now you have to be Rose's._

That forced Winter to take a deep breath and tried to calm down.

Colonel McCullough said Rose was important to him, part of his success...But what if she failed him? What if she stared to ask why she was in that room or where her parents were? Sure she's a little child right now but all children grow up and someday, the Colonel won't be able to control her anymore...

...And if she fights back or if he gets angry at her, what will he do to her?

He had to protect her. As far as Winter knew, he and Red were the only ones that knew of her existence and now Red is gone-taken away by the soldiers for-who knows why. Even if the Colonel isn't abusing Rose, keeping her locked up like this is hurting her and he's endangering her by involving her in his twisted plans.

If Winter doesn't protect her, nobody will.

Sniffing and drying his eyes, Winter turned back around to the same emptiness that scared him.

 _Let's play a little game._ He told himself to make it easier. _We're exploring an old human place, like the one near the village-only no pranks from Dex and Stripe, Shell and Fox this time!_

Finally, Winter left the spot he had been standing in for hours and walked over to the left corner. The very corner the soldiers brought him and Red from and later, took Red to. Peering into that hallway, he could see it led to another corner. A zigzag.

Curious, he checked the other side of the wall. Same, only this was a longer hallway that led to another on each side. He could only guess there were rooms with each hallway.

Hearing footsteps, Winter quickly returned to his spot. _More hallways._ He thought as he stood. _Tunnels. No windows._

His fur stood up as he realized something.

 _Are we underground?!_

* * *

 **A's/N: Ok, let's chat about some stuff!**

 **First of all, Caesar's breakdown scene was partly inspired by an ask I got several months ago on Tumblr:**

 **"** ** _Hello. Would Caesar allow himself to be open and vulnerable to a friend ever (outside of his wife and fellow apes) or would he keep his guard up all the time in others presence? He seems to be stoic and stiff most times but also emotional when the time warrants it. I feel he needs to be strong for others and be their strength." ~ Anonymous_**

 **There is actually going to be a scene in a few chapters where we do see this vulnerable side to Caesar (minor spoiler, sorry!) however, this ask made me take another look at Caesar and Cornelia's relationship (which I previously (admittedly) didn't pay much attention too) and therefore, properly give them some spotlight. It also inspired a Feels PoTA One-Shot I'm thinking about writing someday that's also based on their relationship.**

 **Anonymous, if you're reading this, thank you for the inspiration! :D**

 **Remember back in Chapter 10 when Koba attempted suicide? This would be a followup to that! I admit I squeezed that scene in this chapter but I did that because it is important to the story and it is part of Koba's transformation from vengeful ape, to redemption (also, Ralph is actually that old man that Koba told Ash to kill. He was never named in the movie or in the book so I just gave him a name. He's not really a major character but his role is important as he's Koba's shrink (and it's also parallel to their interaction in Dawn). So yes, Ralph is a good guy!). You can expect to see him a couple of times in the story now.**

 **Speaking of parallels, does anyone recognize Amol? (anyone who doesn't, think Koba in Firestorm)…Not gonna say much on that, but it will be explained later…And I wonder who that SkullFace who recognized him actually was. ;D**

 **And now I'm talking about the SkullFaces. Meh, let's just say they're the 'city thugs' that our Human-Ape Team now has to deal with. I don't really have much to say on them, but I think you guys will have fun finding out who they actually are. XD**

 **Yelp, now we know where Derek had been! I never said this before, but Derek is actually relevant in McCullough's past in this story…**

 **And finally, Winter. Does anyone remember how Winter went from being Luca's potential successor, to a traitor due to his cowardice? Welp, that's not gonna happen here! Lets just say Winter isn't going to make the same mistake here that he did in War. (LOL, I just realized Winter and Red's relationship is also parallel to their relationship in Revelations and in War…I guess we can start calling this entire fanfic a parallel universe now. XD)**

 **One more thing: I probably should have said this in Chapter 10, but I'll say it here: If anyone here has anxiety or depression, talk to someone (literally anyone-your friends, your teachers/professors, your parents, anyone you trust) and if you think about suicide or harm yourself, then I strongly encourage you to get help even more so. Seriously you guys, you don't have to hide it and you especially don't have live life pretending everything is ok when it's not.**

 **I hope that by having Koba see a psychiatrist in my fic, it will let others know that they can get help too.**

 **Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


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